Clinical Perspectives on 3D Bioprinting Paradigms for Regenerative Medicine

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is an emerging manufacturing technology that layers living cells and biocompatible natural or synthetic materials to build complex, functional living tissue with the requisite 3D geometries. This technology holds tremendous promise across a plethora of applications as diverse as regenerative medicine, pathophysiological studies, and drug testing. Despite some success demonstrated in early attempts to recreate complex tissue structures, however, the field of bioprinting is very much in its infancy. There are a variety of challenges to building viable, functional, and lasting 3D structures, not the least of which is translation from a research to a clinical setting. In this review, the current translational status of 3D bioprinting is assessed for several major tissue types in the body (skin, bone/cartilage, cardiovascular, central/peripheral nervous systems, skeletal muscle, kidney, and liver), recent breakthroughs and current challenges are highlighted, and future prospects for this exciting research field are discussed. We begin with an overview of the technology itself, followed by a detailed discussion of the current approaches relevant for bioprinting different tissues for regenerative medicine.

Natural Hydrogel-Based Bio-Inks for 3D Bioprinting in Tissue Engineering: A Review

“…These approaches involve layer-by-layer patterning of light, intended to photo-crosslink defined regions of a bio-ink consisting of a photo-crosslinkable hydrogel precursor [ 171 , 172 ]. The most representative one is stereolithography bioprinting, a light-based technique compatible with photo-sensitive bio-inks only [ 11 , 173 ]. Stereolithography was the first patented method that facilitated 3D object printing from digital data [ 170 , 174 ].…”

“…Furthermore, the printing time is independent of the complexity of the construct, since the whole pattern is projected on the printing substrate. This technique provides the highest spatial resolution of all existing bioprinting methods and is faster than nozzle-based bioprinting systems [ 11 , 173 ].…”

Cartilage Tissue Engineering by Extrusion Bioprinting: Process Analysis, Risk Evaluation, and Mitigation Strategies

“…Despite encouraging results in the 3D bioprinting technology, there is still a gap between the research applications and their clinical use due to several issues that need to be addressed [15]. Optimizing and standardizing this process in the research phase is pivotal for fostering its proper and faster translation into clinics [16].…”

Cellular Proliferation, Self-Assembly, and Modulation of Signaling Pathways in Silk Fibroin Gelatin-Based 3D Bioprinted Constructs

“…The ability to attain spatiotemporal directional positioning of different cells has made 3D bioprinting the ideal strategy to fabricate anatomically relevant living cell-laden 3D structures in vitro . Despite such alluring potential, obtaining clinically relevant engineered tissues via bioprinting is still a challenging proposition …”

“…3 Despite such alluring potential, obtaining clinically relevant engineered tissues via bioprinting is still a challenging proposition. 4 There are still many unmet needs in the field of bioprinting. A bioprintable substance or the hydrogel material that is used for encapsulation of cells in 3D bioprinting is popularly known as "bioink", which plays a key role in defining cellular microenvironments.…”