Bioprinting is one of the most promising technologies for future healthcare as it may benefit the repairing of wounds and injuries, disease modeling and development, transplantation of organs and reduce animal testing. This thesis aim to investigate this industry further, as there is no excessive literature on how to handle the innovation in regards to entrepreneurial and biotechnological knowledge. Hence, a research gap can be spotted and the purpose of the conducted research questions should contribute to this gap. In order to fully understand the bioprinting industry, an outline of the technology is made as part of the research. In addition to this, secondary data for patents, market valuation and annual growth rates are collected to support arguments from previous literature. Also, interviews are conducted to gather specific knowledge. As a result, bioprinting may be presented as a disruptive innovation in an uncertain market, which places certain demands on companies to act more in line with the complexity of the technology. Such companies must think more strategically and design more complex and long-term strategies. The patent data shows that there has been a decline in the technological development as patent applications have decreased significantly. Even though the technology (regarding the patents) has started to slowly decline, there is still hope for some technological improvements to come. It can be concluded that developments in bioink, scaffolds, expansion of cells and diffusion is expected, and that the use of bioprinting is increasing and will most likely continue to do so.

A 3D bioprinter employing light-based technology has been designed and constructed in an EU-funded research initiative known as BRIGHTER (Bioprinting by Light-Sheet Lithography). This initiative is a collaborative effort between institutions and companies and aims to develop a technique for efficient and accurate production of engineered tissue. Presently, the bioprinter’s function is limited to 2D printing, with the lack of 3D printing capabilities.  The problem addressed is the integration of two separate electronic systems within the bioprinter to control the laser beam’s trajectory for 3D printing. The goal of the project is to create functional software and simulation tools to control the hardware modules in a precise and synchronized manner, thereby enabling 3D printing. The outcome manifests as a software prototype, which successfully facilitates intercommunication between the two electronic subsystems within the bioprinter, thereby enabling further progress on the bioprinter with 3D printing available. Nevertheless, the prototype requires thorough testing to determine its optimal operational efficiency in terms of timing the movements for the various hardware modules. / En 3D-bioprinter som använder ljusbaserad teknik har designats och konstruerats i ett EU-finansierat forskningsinitiativ som kallas BRIGHTER (Bioprinting by Light-Sheet Lithography). Detta initiativ är ett samarbete mellan institutioner och företag och syftar till att utveckla en teknik för effektiv och korrekt produktion av konstruerad vävnad.  I dagsläget har bioprintern inte möjligheten för 3D-utskrift, utan är begränsad till 2D-utskrift. Problemet som åtgärdas är integrationen av två separata elektroniska system inom bioprintern för att styra laserstrålens bana för 3D-utskrift. Målet med projektet är att skapa funktionell mjukvara och simuleringsverktyg för att styra hårdvarumodulerna på ett exakt och synkroniserat sätt och därigenom möjliggöra 3D-utskrift. Resultatet av examensarbetet är en mjukvaruprototyp, som framgångsrikt möjliggör interkommunikation mellan de två elektroniska systemen inom bioprintern och därigenom öppnar möjligheten för vidare arbete med 3D-utskrift tillgängligt. Prototypen kräver dock noggranna tester för att fastställa dess optimala operativa effektivitet när det gäller koordinationen av hårdvarumodulernas rörelser.