2024 AIChE Annual Meeting
Testing Sabotage Attacks Affecting Printability during Bioprinting.
As 3D bioprinting moves from the lab to the clinic, the impacts of cybersecurity vulnerabilities become more consequential. Now is the time to ensure bioprinters are secure by co-developing cybersecurity solutions as 3D bioprinters continue to evolve and become more established in biomanufacturing. In this interdisciplinary project, artificial tissues were printed using compromised and uncompromised G-codes to simulate sabotage attacks. These compromised G-codes affected different printing parameters, such as print speed, layer height, temperature control, nozzle switching, quick-pause-and-print (QPIP), ultraviolet attacks, and contamination attacks. The resulting printed tissues were then characterized for printability and structural integrity by measuring printability ratio (Pr) and parameter optimization index (POI) except for the ultraviolet (UV) attacks and the contamination attacks. Weights of the prints were taken for the QPIP experiments along with Pr and POI values, cell viability was measured for the UV attacks, and colony formation was monitored for the contamination attacks. Results showed visual and quantitative deformation in compromised prints, QPIP demonstrated a significant reduction in weight, no conclusive results were produced from the cell viability tests, and contamination was detected from the contamination attacks. These results illustrate the extent that sabotage attacks can have on bioprinted tissues and the need for bioprinting security frameworks. Moving forward, the consequences of sabotage attacks on cells will be further evaluated.