Abstract: Photopolymer additive manufacturing offers high resolution and surface quality, but the need to remove support structures after printing remains a major challenge. Supports limit part geometries, add manual labor, and generate waste. This talk focuses on Selective Solubility Vat Photopolymerization (SSVP), a new approach that uses a single resin and two wavelengths of light to selectively cure either a dissolvable thermoplastic or a durable, insoluble thermoset within the same print. This allows complex geometries to be fabricated with supports that can later be removed in mild solvents or in a component of the original resin itself, enabling closed-loop recycling of the dissolved support material. Several other emerging strategies for reducing the burden of support removal in photopolymer printing will also be discussed. Together, these examples show how materials design, process design, and machine design can work together to make resin 3D printed more automated, sustainable, and capable of producing complex parts.

Abstract: GenesisTissue Inc. is a biotechnology company leveraging Vat Photopolymerization to develop the next generation of personalized surgical solutions for soft-tissue reconstruction, beginning with the breast. Breast cancer is one of the most diagnosed cancers worldwide, affecting more than 2.3 million people globally and approximately 300,000 people in the United States annually. With five-year relative survival rates exceeding 90% in the US, many patients are living beyond diagnosis and treatment. However, breast-conserving surgery (i.e. lumpectomy) and mastectomy can leave tissue defects that negatively affect survivorship as well as pose significant reconstructive challenges. By combining additive manufacturing, biomaterials engineering, and patient-specific design, GenesisTissue aims to make breast reconstruction more predictable while advancing regenerative approaches that support tissue ingrowth and the gradual replacement of scaffold materials with native tissue. This work illustrates broader opportunities and challenges at the intersection of additive manufacturing and regenerative medicine, including scaffold design, degradable and soft material formulation, manufacturing processes, biocompatibility, and characterization.