3D Printing Food Research Articles

Three-Dimensional Printing of Medical Devices Used Directly to Treat Patients: A Systematic Review.

Until recently, three-dimensional (3D) printing/additive manufacturing has not been used extensively to create medical devices intended for actual clinical use, primarily on patient safety and regulatory grounds. However, in recent years there have been advances in materials, printers, and experience, leading to increased clinical use. The aim of this study was to perform a structured systematic review of 3D-printed medical devices used directly in patient treatment. A search of 13 databases was performed to identify studies of 3D-printed medical devices, detailing fabrication technology and materials employed, clinical application, and clinical outcome. One hundred and ten papers describing one hundred and forty medical devices were identified and analyzed. A considerable increase was identified in the use of 3D printing to produce medical devices directly for clinical use in the past 3 years. This is dominated by printing of patient-specific implants and surgical guides for use in orthopedics and orthopedic oncology, but there is a trend of increased use across other clinical specialties. The prevailing material/3D-printing technology used were titanium alloy/electron beam melting for implants, and polyamide/selective laser sintering or polylactic acid/fused deposition modeling for surgical guides and instruments. A detailed analysis across medical applications by technology and materials is provided, as well as a commentary regarding regulatory aspects. In general, there is growing familiarity with, and acceptance of, 3D printing in clinical use.

Consumer Assessment of 3D-Printed Food Shape, Taste, and Fidelity Using Chocolate and Marzipan Materials.

Additive manufacturing enables the production of complex structures with emerging approaches showing great promise in the food industry for design customization. Three-dimensional food printing has benefits for providing personalized health and shape fabrication for consumers. Past studies have demonstrated positive consumer perceptions for 3D food printing, but there is still a need for consumer validation of the technology through consumption and rating of fabricated 3D-printed foods. This article measures consumer response on shape, taste, and fidelity for 3D-printed food designs. Participants (N = 28) were presented with a series of designs differing in shape complexity and ingredients (marzipan and chocolate) and provided ratings using a visual analog scale (100 mm line). The results show that fabricated shapes with higher complexity were preferred by participants with 8.8 ± 0.3 ratings over lower complexity shapes with 5.5 ± 0.4 ratings. Taste preference was primarily dependent on the material selection, with chocolate material preferred by participants with 8.2 ± 0.5 ratings over marzipan material with 6.0 ± 0.5. Results demonstrated that participants preferred 3D-printed shapes that achieved high fidelity in recreating their computer-aided design (CAD) with 7.3 ± 0.3 ratings that were greater than 5.5 ± 0.5 for low-fidelity prints. These findings demonstrate first measurements of 3D food printing from a consumer perspective and provide a foundation for future studies on personalized manufacturing and nutrition.

3D printing performance of gels from wheat starch, flour and whole meal

The effects of material composition on the quality of 3D-printed food using wheat starch, flour and whole meal were explored. Results showed that samples molded by wheat starch and whole meal obtained a more accurate and better quality printing than wheat flour. Wheat flour had the worst printable capacity as it gets stuck easily to the wall of the printer. Starch-protein complexes appeared in the samples of wheat flour and whole meal. Whole meal constituted protein, fat, fiber and starch to form various complexes, which strengthen the gel network cross-linking, retard starch aging significantly, and enhance the water binding capacity than just the starch only sample. Printed samples using whole meal still possess a soft and elastic texture after long-time storage. Overall, whole meal with higher protein, fat and fiber content was better for food 3D printing than wheat starch and flour.

Investigation on spontaneous 4D changes in color and flavor of healthy 3D printed food materials over time in response to external or internal pH stimulus

This study aimed to investigate 4D changes in colors and flavors of 3D-printed healthy food products in response to an external or internal pH stimulus. The formulations obtained by 3D printing of multi-smart materials, comprised of the combination of red cabbage juice, vanillin powder, potato starch and different fruit juices were used. 3D printing ability of red cabbage juice and vanillin powder affected by different potato starch concentrations was first studied. Then, changes in color, texture, flavor (by E-nose) and taste (by E-tongue) induced by the stimulus were determined. Results revealed that the color of the 3D-printed product changed from blue (control sample) to red, purple, violet, blue, blue-green, and green-yellow colors when sprayed with pH solutions of 2, 3–4, 5–6, 7, 8–9, and 10, respectively. In addition, clear differences in aroma and taste profiles among pH samples were detected. Moreover, dried 4D product samples exhibited color and anthocyanins stability when stored in ambient temperature for three weeks. This study is important for manufacturing new healthy 3D-printed food products with desired and attractive sensory characteristics, which can be particularly significant to people with poor appetite.

Potential Development of Sustainable 3D-Printed Meat Analogues: A Review

To mitigate the threat of climate change driven by livestock meat production, a multifaceted approach that incorporates dietary changes, innovative product development, advances in technologies, and reductions in food wastes/losses is proposed. The emerging technology of 3D printing (3DP) has been recognized for its unprecedented capacity to fabricate food products with intricate structures and reduced material cost and energy. For sustainable 3DP of meat substitutes, the possible materials discussed are derived from in vitro cell culture, meat byproducts/waste, insects, and plants. These material-based approaches are analyzed from their potential environmental effects, technological viability, and consumer acceptance standpoints. Although skeletal muscles and skin are bioprinted for medical applications, they could be utilized as meat without the additional printing of vascular networks. The impediments to bioprinting of meat are lack of food-safe substrates/materials, cost-effectiveness, and scalability. The sustainability of bioprinting could be enhanced by the utilization of generic/universal components or scaffolds and optimization of cell sourcing and fabrication logistics. Despite the availability of several plants and their byproducts and some start-up ventures attempting to fabricate food products, 3D printing of meat analogues remains a challenge. From various insects, powders, proteins (soluble/insoluble), lipids, and fibers are produced, which—in different combinations and at optimal concentrations—can potentially result in superior meat substitutes. Valuable materials derived from meat byproducts/wastes using low energy methods could reduce waste production and offset some greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Apart from printer innovations (speed, precision, and productivity), rational structure of supply chain and optimization of material flow and logistic costs can improve the sustainability of 3D printing. Irrespective of the materials used, perception-related challenges exist for 3D-printed food products. Consumer acceptance could be a significant challenge that could hinder the success of 3D-printed meat analogs.

Assessment of a novel window of dimensional stability for screening food inks for 3D printing

The applicability of a window of dimensional stability has been assessed for screening food inks for 3D food printing based on rheological measurements of their rigidities. The window provides good guidance on the likely dimensional stability of 3D-printed food items. Thus, the screening method shows promise for accelerating the development of 3D-printing food inks by narrowing the field of potential candidates before the more arduous printing tests begin. No connection could be established between the rheological properties extracted from oscillatory amplitude sweeps and filament quality of the food inks. Filaments of molten food ink require time to harden sufficiently on being extruded to hold their form and support layers printed above them. This hardening time can vary significantly between food inks.

Effects of high oil compositions and printing parameters on food paste properties and printability in a 3D printing food processing model

3D printing of high-liquid-oil-content food pastes is challenging. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of oil content on the printability of a model food paste. High-oil-content (up to 37%) pastes were prepared with water, canola oil, corn starch, and whey protein isolate (WPI). Effects of paste composition, paste conditioning, printing speed, extruding rate, and printed shape on printability were investigated. Viscosity and loss tangent values indicated that all the pastes were pseudoplastic fluids and exhibited predominantly elastic properties. Viscosity, storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G′′) increased with the total mass of printed pastes. Excessive WPI impaired the printability and corn starch showed a more significant impact on the G′ and G′′ compared to WPI. Storage at 4 °C for 24 h improved the printability by increasing viscosity and G′. DSC results suggested that swelling and gelation affected the melting behavior of the printing pastes.

The Optimization of a 3D Scanning Technique Applied for 3D Printing of Bespoke Medical Devices

Aim: The aim of this study is to optimize the 3D scanning process using a laser-free structured light surface scanner (Artec EVA). Methods: The hand was chosen to optimize scanning protocols and generate reliable high-quality surface scan models. Scanning comfort, ease of scanning and maximum scanning error were assessed in each hand position. Results & conclusion: Such an optimized scanning method shows the potential to obtain high-quality 3D hand scans quickly and reliably so that they can further be used for the development of bespoke 3D-printed medical devices for patients.

Properties of 3D printed dough and optimization of printing parameters

Abstract Customization of food using the three-dimensional (3D) printing technique is an extremely convenient and healthy way to cook food with maximum utilization of materials, and consequently, this technique has received considerable attention from the public in recent years. In this study, we explored the effect of material composition on the quality of 3D-printed food using wheat flour, freeze-dried mango powder, olive oil and water. Results showed that without adding the freeze-dried mango powder and olive oil, the best printing quality was obtained with a flour-to-water ratio of 5:3. When 2% of the total mass of olive oil was added, the best printing quality was obtained for a flour:water:olive oil ratio of 55:2.75:30. The optimum compressive pressure, needle velocity, needle diameter and internal filling ratio yielding the best printing quality were 600 kPa, 6 mm/s, 0.58 mm and 50%, respectively. The food samples produced using these optimum parameters exhibited multiple merits including well-organized packing structure, clear internal texture profile and a smaller total deformation.

Elastomeric passive transmission for autonomous force-velocity adaptation applied to 3D-printed prosthetics.

The force, speed, dexterity, and compact size required of prosthetic hands present extreme design challenges for engineers. Current prosthetics rely on high-quality motors to achieve adequate precision, force, and speed in a small enough form factor with the trade-off of high cost. We present a simple, compact, and cost-effective continuously variable transmission produced via projection stereolithography. Our transmission, which we call an elastomeric passive transmission (EPT), is a polyurethane composite cylinder that autonomously adjusts its radius based on the tension in a wire spooled around it. We integrated six of these EPTs into a three-dimensionally printed soft prosthetic hand with six active degrees of freedom. Our EPTs provided the prosthetic hand with about three times increase in grip force without compromising flexion speed. This increased performance leads to finger closing speeds of ~0.5 seconds (average radial velocity, ~180 degrees second-1) and maximum fingertip forces of ~32 newtons per finger.

Food of the Future? Consumer Responses to the Idea of 3D-Printed Meat and Insect-Based Foods

3D printing technologies are beginning to be employed to fabricate new food products. One of the more unusual and potentially controversial adoptions of this novel food technology involves the use of laboratory-cultured meat or insect-based ingredients to support ethical consumption, food security, and environmental sustainability initiatives. In this article, we discuss findings from our study involving an online discussion group with Australian participants concerning their attitudes to a novel technology that combined new food processing and presentation devices (the 3D printer) with a range of ingredients. The participants recognized the potential benefits of insect- and cultured-meat-based printed food for society. However, their own priorities for food consumption choices centered more on the qualities of health, taste, and naturalness. We found that overall, few participants articulated interest in or support for consuming or serving 3D-printed food products made from cultured meat or insects. Most expressed their disquiet about the degree of processing cultured meat undergoes. It was considered to be “unnatural,” and therefore not fresh, potentially harmful, lacking taste or not nutritious. Most of the participants also expressed antipathy towards the idea of eating printed products containing insects. While such products were considered more “natural” and nutritious than cultured meat, the idea of eating insects was predominantly greeted with disgust. As these findings suggest, plans to use 3D printing technologies to render ingredients such as cultured meat and insects more acceptable and appealing to consumers in countries like Australia have major cultural barriers to overcome.

3D printed milk protein food simulant: Improving the printing performance of milk protein concentration by incorporating whey protein isolate

Abstract This paper aimed to establish a milk protein based 3D printing food simulant and investigated the effect of whey protein isolate (WPI) concentration on the printing performance of milk protein concentrate (MPC). WPI and MPC powders at different ratios were prepared in paste (35 wt%, total dry matter content). The rheological properties and water distribution of protein matrix prepared with different MPC/WPI ratios were characterized with a rheometer and low field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR), respectively. Moreover, the variations in the microstructure of printed objects were observed with a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The printed objects showed different appearance and physical properties; the printing fidelity was also evaluated by measuring the geometric accuracy of printed objects. The rheological and texture data showed that the presence of WPI could reduce the apparent viscosity and soften the MPC paste, benefiting the printing process. The results showed that the milk powder paste mixture prepared with MPC/WPI at a ratio of 5/2 was the most desirable material for extrusion-based 3D printing, which could be successfully printed and matched the designed 3D model best. Industrial relevance 3D printing in food sector has been an attractive and emerging technology owing to its potential advantages, such as customized food designs, personalized and digitalized nutrition, simplifying supply chain and so on. This paper established a high protein food simulant for 3D printing, optimized its printing performance with whey protein isolate, and studied the physicochemical property of prepared protein pastes. The overall results indicated that milk protein powders could be the promising materials for the application in food 3D printing. In flowing studies or practical production, the glycerol could be replaced by ingredients such as syrup, honey etc. This study may give more insights into 3D printing applied in food sector and facilitate the further developments of 3D food printing.

Addressing Unmet Clinical Needs with 3D Printing Technologies.

Recent advances in 3D printing have enabled the creation of novel 3D constructs and devices with an unprecedented level of complexity, properties, and functionalities. In contrast to manufacturing techniques developed for mass production, 3D printing encompasses a broad class of fabrication technologies that can enable 1) the creation of highly customized and optimized 3D physical architectures from digital designs; 2) the synergistic integration of properties and functionalities of distinct classes of materials to create novel hybrid devices; and 3) a biocompatible fabrication approach that facilitates the creation and cointegration of biological constructs and systems. This progress report describes how these capabilities can potentially address a myriad of unmet clinical needs. First, the creation of 3D-printed prosthetics to regain lost functionalities by providing structural support for skeletal and tubular organs is highlighted. Second, novel drug delivery strategies aided by 3D-printed devices are described. Third, the advancement of medical research heralded by 3D-printed tissue/organ-on-chips systems is discussed. Fourth, the developments of 3D-printed tissue and organ regeneration are explored. Finally, the potential for seamless integration of engineered organs with active devices by leveraging the versatility of multimaterial 3D printing is envisioned.

Effects of Pea Protein on the Properties of Potato Starch-Based 3D Printing Materials

Abstract Since materials are the substantial foundation for 3D printing, the lack of theoretical research on 3D printing food materials restricts the development of 3D printing in food field. Based on the principle of 3D starch gelatinization printing, this study revealed the effects of pea protein on the printability of potato starch-based 3D printing materials in granular structure, crystalline structure, chemical structure, textural properties, and thermal properties, through scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transformed infrared, differential scanning calorimetry, and textural method, and developed new food materials for 3D printing. The study indicated the structural properties and physicochemical properties changed regularly with the increase in the content of pea protein, when the content of pea protein was 1%, the printing quality was best. The study provides a new theory for the application of 3D printing in food production and technical support for actual production.

Consumers’ attitudes and change of attitude toward 3D-printed food

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, offers a wide range of new possibilities within the food industry. From the realisation of complex food designs to the automated preparation of personalised meals, 3D printers promise many innovations in the food manufacturing, retail and catering sectors. Because the successful launch of foods made using a novel technology needs to be accompanied by targeted communication, a careful assessment of consumers’ perception, needs and apprehensions is required. The present study aims to explore consumers’ attitude formation and evolution toward this technology and resulting food concepts. Data were collected through a postal survey sent out to a sample of 2047 German-speaking residents from Switzerland, yielding a final sample size of N = 260. Participants’ attitudes were assessed at the beginning and end of the survey. Three consecutive multiple regression analyses helped analyse the initial attitude, the final attitude and the attitude change determinants that were assessed. Participants’ self-assessment revealed a varied but overall relatively low initial knowledge level of 3D-printed food. Because the first impression has been proven to be decisive in attitude formation, this lack of knowledge allowed us to test the effect of targeted information, and we succeeded in overcoming food neophobia and convincing consumers that this technology can support them in the preparation of healthy and individualised meals while adding a playful dimension to food preparation. The information given, however, failed to overcome food technology neophobia. Avenues for the development and testing of adapted communication concepts are discussed.

Investigation on lemon juice gel as food material for 3D printing and optimization of printing parameters

The aim of this paper is to develop a new 3D printing food constructs based on lemon juice gel system. We investigated the effect of potato starch (10, 12.5, 15, 17.5 and 20 g/100 g) on the rheological properties and mechanical properties of lemon juice gels. Besides, the influence of printing parameters (nozzle height, nozzle diameter, extrusion rate and nozzle movement speed) on the quality of printed products were also studied. The results show that it is suitable to make the size of the nozzle height the same with that of the nozzle diameter, which could not be regarded as a key factor that affects print quality. An equation is proposed to explain the relationship between extrusion rate, nozzle diameter and nozzle movement speed. In this printing system, the 1 mm nozzle diameter, 24 mm3/s extrusion rate and 30 mm/s nozzle movement speed were found to be the optimal parameters to print 3D constructs matching the target geometry with fine resolution, more smooth surface texture, and fewer point defects with no compressed deformation.

Investigation on fish surimi gel as promising food material for 3D printing

This paper presents the development of a new 3D printing food constructs based on fish surimi gel system. This study investigated the influence of NaCl addition on rheological property, gel strength, water holding capacity (WHC), water distribution and microstructure of surimi gel to be used as a material for 3D printing. The obtained results from rheological studies showed that the surimi gels made with 1.5 g NaCl/100 g surimi mixture can be used for 3D printing. NaCl addition is helpful for the slurry to flow out from the nozzle in time and then get viscous post-deposition for holding its shape. Moreover, the effects of the printing parameters on the geometrical accuracy and dimension of the printed surimi gel were also studied. In this particular printing system, the 2.0 mm nozzle diameter, 5.0 mm nozzle height, 28 mm/s nozzle moving speed and 0.003 cm3/s extrusion rate were the optimal parameters to print 3D samples with fine resolution, better matching with the target geometry, fewer point defects and no compressed deformation. The overall results suggested that the 3D printing based on surimi gel system is a promising method for producing complexed-shape food patterns.

Regulatory Considerations in the Design and Manufacturing of Implantable 3D-Printed Medical Devices.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing, or additive manufacturing, technology has rapidly penetrated the medical device industry over the past several years, and innovative groups have harnessed it to create devices with unique composition, structure, and customizability. These distinctive capabilities afforded by 3D printing have introduced new regulatory challenges. The customizability of 3D-printed devices introduces new complexities when drafting a design control model for FDA consideration of market approval. The customizability and unique build processes of 3D-printed medical devices pose unique challenges in meeting regulatory standards related to the manufacturing quality assurance. Consistent material powder properties and optimal printing parameters such as build orientation and laser power must be addressed and communicated to the FDA to ensure a quality build. Postprinting considerations unique to 3D-printed devices, such as cleaning, finishing and sterilization are also discussed. In this manuscript we illustrate how such regulatory hurdles can be navigated by discussing our experience with our group's 3D-printed bioresorbable implantable device.

Additive manufacturing for the food industry

Additive manufacturing of food is a nascent field with great potential but limited application, in search of utility. The key motivators for 3D printing food are customization, on-demand production, and geometric complexity. Food printings maturation can be demonstrated by the reproduction of traditional foods such as pizza using 3D printers. Methods for allowing the production of grain and protein based products which are shape stable throughout the cooking process allow for increase shape fidelity. Data driven recipes allow for customized flavor and nutrition, and printing processes allow for the production of unique textures and meso-scale porosity. Together these advances represent important steps to developing novel utility in 3D food printing.