3D Printing Breast Tissue Models: A Review of Past Work and Directions for Future Work

Abstract

Breast cancer often results in the removal of the breast, creating a need for replacement tissue. Tissue engineering offers the promise of generating such replacements by combining cells with biomaterial scaffolds and serves as an attractive potential alternative to current surgical repair methods. Such engineered tissues can also serve as important tools for drug screening and provide in vitro models for analysis. 3D bioprinting serves as an exciting technology with significant implications and applications in the field of tissue engineering. Here we review the work that has been undertaken in hopes of generating the recognized in-demand replacement breast tissue using different types of bioprinting. We then offer suggestions for future work needed to advance this field for both in vitro and in vivo applications.

Printing the Pathway Forward in Bone Metastatic Cancer Research: Applications of 3D Engineered Models and Bioprinted Scaffolds to Recapitulate the Bone–Tumor Niche

“…Cells can be impregnated into the resultant extracellular matrices post-printing using traditional cell seeding techniques or incorporated directly into the printing process to produce precursor tissue constructs. Such constructs can then be directly implanted in-vivo for regenerative medicine applications or cultured in-vitro to produce mature, biomimetic tissues, holding promise for breast cancer applications [ 177 ].…”

“…Inkjet bioprinting ( Figure 3 B), the first method developed, involves dispensing bioink through a thin nozzle in 1–100 μL volumes in a precise three-dimensional pattern [ 192 ]. Also known as the drop-on-demand method, the droplets are discharged by either an internal vapor bubble generated by an external thermal heating element or an acoustic wave generated by mechanical pulses of a piezoelectric element allowing for a resolution of 50 μm [ 177 , 179 ]. Printing using this technique is fast (up to 10,000 droplets/second) and relatively low cost vs. other methods, but input substrate options and cell densities may be limited secondary to nozzle clogging with more viscous bioinks [ 177 , 179 ].…”

Review of Plastic Surgery Biomaterials and Current Progress in Their 3D Manufacturing Technology

“…Before breast reconstruction, it is necessary to accurately measure the various aesthetic indicators of the double breasts, such as position, volume, breast height, and position of the nipple and areola complex. CT or MRI three-dimensional imaging results are more accurate and can be used for the estimation and adjustment of double breast symmetry [ 122 , 123 ]. Breast reconstruction can be divided into several ways: Autologous tissue transplantation reconstruction, prosthesis implantation reconstruction and autologous tissue, and prosthesis combined reconstruction.…”

“… Examples of the applications of three-dimensional (3D) manufacturing technology in plastic and cosmetic surgery [ 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 , 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 , 124 , 125 , 126 ]. ( A ) The 3D manufacturing technology for temporomandibular joint reconstruction [ 111 ].…”

Granular hydrogels for 3D bioprinting applications

“…[1][2][3] As a cellular-assembly method, three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting has been extensively used in the fabrication of cell-laden 3D scaffolds to replicate the tissue architectures. [4][5][6][7][8][9] The principle of the 3D bioprinting can be defined as the placement of living cells within biomaterials into preprogrammed structures and geometries using automated fabrication processes. 4 The earliest work of the 3D bioprinting was initiated by Kelbe in 1988, who demonstrated the precise deposition of cells on a substrate using an inkjet printer or a graphics plotter.…”