MINI REVIEW article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biofabrication
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1486459
This article is part of the Research TopicAdditive Manufacturing and its Biomedical ApplicationView all 9 articles
The Sculpting Tool in Bioprinting: Research and Application Progress of Sacrificial Inks
Provisionally accepted
- 1Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
- 2.Department of Geryatrics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College,, Wuhan, China
- 3First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Shihezi University, Shihezi, Xinjiang Uyghur Region, China
- 4The Second People’s Hospital of China,Three Gorges University•The Second People’s Hospital of Yichang，Hubei，China, Yichang, China
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The core of bio-3D printing technology lies in the development and optimization of bio-inks. For a long time, researchers have been looking for bio-inks that can balance printability and cell function. However, traditional bio-inks often have limitations in meeting this balance, limiting the complexity and scale of printable structures. In recent years, the emergence of sacrificial inks has brought a major breakthrough in this field, allowing bio-inks that were originally not very suitable for printing to accurately construct larger and more complex structures. This ink is unique in that it is used to support and position the bio-ink but is removed after printing is complete, not as part of the final printed structure. The mild nature of the state transition and removal conditions allows for minimal damage to cell viability and print structure when the ink is "sacrificed." This review will focus on the types of sacrificial inks and their two key applications in bioprinting: building intracranial vascular networks and improving bioink performance. We will summarize the current status, advantages, and challenges of these applications, aiming to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in the use of sacrificial inks in bioprinting. By sacrificing the application of ink, bioprinting technology can not only produce more realistic and complex tissue structures but also is expected to provide broader application prospects for clinical treatment and regenerative medicine in the future.
Keywords: Bioprinting, sacrificial inks, Biomaterials, Regenerative Medicine, Bioengineering
Received: 26 Aug 2024; Accepted: 16 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Ci, Wang and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Bin Wang, The Second People’s Hospital of China,Three Gorges University•The Second People’s Hospital of Yichang，Hubei，China, Yichang, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.