YOU CAN TURN A CHEAP RESIN PRINTER INTO A BIOPRINTER FOR €500
Munich researchers published the CAD and code to turn a cheap masked-SLA printer into a bioprinter that prints porous scaffolds and hollow, perfusable channels in gelatin hydrogel — for a small fraction of the price of commercial bioprinters.
by Benedikt K. Kaufmann and colleagues
ScienceOpen-hardware
Built withArduino3D printing
- difficulty
- ●●●●●
- time
- several weekends
- license
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- repo
- repo FINISHED0 stars
●●●●● · several weekends · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 0 stars · repo FINISHED
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
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COMPAREE VERDICT
This is not a weekend project and it is not for someone who has never printed resin. It is for a lab or a very committed maker who understands what gelatin methacrylate is and has a reason to print perfused structures — microfluidic test beds, tissue scaffolds, or research into printable biomaterials. The paper demonstrates a gyroid scaffold and a hollow tube you can perfuse; it does not demonstrate implantable tissue, because that is not what this does. The whole build comes to under €500 including the €350 Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K it is based on. The modifications add what a stock printer lacks: resistive heating foils and an Arduino-based controller that hold the chamber between 25 and 37 °C, humidification so the hydrogel does not dry out, and a silicone-coated build platform for a glass slide, so a print can run from as little as 100 µl of hydrogel. The paper names the CELLINK LUMEN X as the closest commercial bioprinter and says this build costs a small fraction of commercial equivalents. The single thing most likely to go wrong is not mechanical: gelatin methacrylate and the LAP photoinitiator are lab materials, and if you do not already have a supplier, the chemicals will take longer to source than the build.
IN THE REPO
GOOD TO KNOW
- —CAD for the heated vat assembly, build platform and molding stand is on Mendeley Data (DOI 10.17632/kxt5sks9zs.1).
- —The paper names every off-the-shelf component — heating pads, TSIC 506F temperature sensors, Arduino Uno and LCD keypad shield, silicone for the build platform — with suppliers and prices.
- —Temperature control runs on an Arduino Uno with the published mSLAb code; the printer firmware itself stays stock.
- —Licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to modify and sell, must share improvements under the same terms.
- —This is a HardwareX paper, which means peer-reviewed build documentation, not a GitHub readme.
- —The hydrogel formulations are in the paper; there is no separate chemical protocol document.
Parts to buy
9 itemsFrom our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.
Can I build this?
Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.
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Start here
Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.
- 1.Read the HardwareX paper (the entire build is documented here, including the rationale for every design choice)
- 2.Download the CAD and BOM from Mendeley Data(DOI 10.17632/kxt5sks9zs.1 — CAD (STEP, STL, CTB), Arduino code, circuit schematics and process videos in one Mendeley dataset)
- 3.Source the gelatin methacrylate and LAP photoinitiator before ordering anything else(if you cannot get these, the rest of the build is pointless; the paper names suppliers but availability varies by region)
- 4.Print the base plate, build platform, controller case and silicone molds on a filament printer(These are mechanical parts and molds; the build platform is then cast in silicone using the printed molding stand.)
KNOWN ISSUES
- The hydrogel chemicals are not consumer products — gelatin methacrylate and LAP photoinitiator are sold to labs, and if you are not already set up to order from those suppliers, this will stop you before you start.
- The paper demonstrates perfused structures and microfluidic test channels; it does not demonstrate implantable tissue or anything you would call an organ.
- Temperature stability is the entire point of the conversion; place the sensors as described and check that the chamber holds its set point before the first print.
- The print runs in a small hydrogel droplet between the glass slide and the LCD cover, so keep the cover film clean and unscratched and the glass substrate seated flat — both directly affect print quality.
- The closest commercial tool, the CELLINK LUMEN X, is sold to labs as a turnkey system with support and validation; this conversion is far cheaper because you are doing the build, calibration and validation yourself.
- The design is built around the Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K; if you own a different printer, expect to redesign the parts. If you are buying a printer just for this, the whole build is about €500 — make sure you actually need to print hydrogel structures first.
Can this print implantable tissue?
No. The paper demonstrates perfused structures in GelMA hydrogel — scaffolds you can pump fluid through, not tissue you would put in a human. The chemistry and sterility requirements for implantable constructs are an entirely different problem.
Why does this need a heated vat when normal resin printers do not?
Gelatin-based hydrogels are liquid above ~30°C and solid below it. The printer has to hold the vat warm so the material flows, then cool the finished part so it holds its shape. Standard resin is liquid at room temperature, so stock printers do not have heating.
What printer did they use and does it have to be that one?
The paper used a Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K, an entry-level printer at about €350. Other masked-SLA printers could in principle be adapted, but the CAD files fit the Sonic Mini 4K, so you will have to redesign the parts.
Is there a kit or do I have to source every part?
No kit exists. The BOM lists every part with supplier numbers, but you are ordering from electronics distributors, not buying a bundle.
How much does the hydrogel cost per print?
The paper does not say, because it depends on the formulation and your supplier. Gelatin methacrylate is sold by the gram and priced like a lab reagent, not like craft resin.
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Discussion1
FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM
The paper names the CELLINK LUMEN X as the closest commercial equivalent, while this conversion comes to under 500 euros including the printer. If you were setting up a lab for perfused scaffold work from scratch, would you build this or save for the turnkey tool?
Benedikt K. Kaufmann and colleagues
Kaufmann, Rudolph, Pechtl, Wildenburg, Hayden, Clausen-Schaumann and Sudhop are at the Center for Applied Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine at Munich University of Applied Sciences, with collaborators at LMU's Center for NanoScience and TranslaTUM at the Technical University of Munich. They published this in HardwareX as reproducible hardware that other labs and teaching programmes could build.
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- Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
- Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
CompareeTEAM23d agoedited
Practical notes from our verification: this is one of the most thoroughly documented HardwareX papers we have catalogued. The conversion turns a Phrozen Sonic Mini 4K into a temperature- and humidity-controlled bioprinter, with heating pads, TSIC 506F sensors and an Arduino Uno with an LCD keypad shield running the authors' published control code. The design files, code, circuit schematics and two process videos (silicone molding and bioprinting) are on Mendeley Data under CC BY-SA 4.0. The roughly 500 euro total already includes the printer; what it does not include is the chemistry — the paper prints GelMA hydrogel, and photoinitiator and protein costs vary by supplier and region. The single biggest thing to know: this prints hydrogel scaffolds and perfusable channel structures, not tissue, and if you do not have a reason to print those, this is not the weekend project you are looking for. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.