Bioprinting: Uncovering the Utility Layer-By-Layer

Abstract

ReviewBioprinting is becoming a must have capability in tissue engineering research. Key to the growth of the field is the inherent flexibility, which can be used to answer basic scientific questions that can only be addressed under 3D culture conditions, or organon-chip systems that could quickly replace underperforming animal models. Almost certainly the most challenging application of bioprinting will be for bottom-up tissue construction, which faces many of the same challenges as scaffold-based tissue engineering. In this review, the current state-of-the-art approaches to 3D bioprinting are discussed in terms of performance and suitability. This is complemented by an overview of hydrogel-based bioinks, with a special emphasis on composite biomaterial systems.

Advances in three‐dimensional bioprinting of bone: Progress and challenges

“…It enables the curing of bioinks in a single printing plane as the print head moves in one direction, irrespective of the complexity of the pattern. The main advantages include high cell viability (>90%), shorter printing time (<1 hr), high resolution (<100 μm), and printing across a broad spectrum of ink viscosities because no ejection is involved (Burke et al, ; Table ). Cytotoxicity due to UV exposure has become a major concern in some of the recent studies (Cui et al, ), which needs careful optimization.…”

“…In order to attain this goal, researchers are adapting several different approaches for synthetically rebuilding the anatomical and functional aspects of tissues and organs in vitro . Broadly, three conceptual approaches undertaken for bioprinting have been categorized as (Burke et al, ) (a) biomimetic strategy, (b) directed assembly of cells, and (c) tissue construction using building blocks (Figure ).…”

“…Before the emergence of extrusion-based 3D printing, Atala (2011) provided a breakthrough by developing heart valves using inkjet printing. Inkjet printing is relatively cheaper, has high printing speed, and supports 80-90% cell viability (Calvert, 2007); but droplet formation necessitates the use of low viscosity bioinks containing lower cell densities, which limits its applicability (Burke, Carter, & Adam, 2017).…”

“…Using biofabrication strategy, smallest functional components of native tissue are assembled into mature tissues by guided placement; that is, printing them next to each other or facilitating fusion (Daly et al, 2016). This method has been commonly adapted to create organ-on-chip models (Burke et al, 2017). (Panwar et al, 2015).…”

Biomaterials in ophthalmology: human cornea bioengineering

“…This additive manufacturing technique allows defining and controlling the geometry of a tissue or organ, with or without cell-biomaterial interactions (depending on the needs). It has many advantages, as described in Table 1, but the biggest issue is related to the inaccurate mechanism by which corneal cells can be placed within the artificial construct [26] Bioprinting enables the fabrication of complex biomaterial-based constructs, which can be chemically associated with living cells through the layer-by-layer method in order to create cornea-mimicking tissue constructs [32,33].…”