Advances in 3D Bioprinting

Three dimensional (3D) Bioprinting is used for additive manufacturing or 3D printing of cells alone or with a combination of biomaterials, growth factors and proteins to fabricate tissue/organ substitutes. Tissue or organ substitutes are first digitally modeled by biomimicking the targeted tissue or organs.

Bioinks consist of cells, biomaterials and active molecules needs to be prepared and optimized for not only fabricated tissue or organ but also their printability. The instructions and path planning for 3D bioprinting are then calculated using computer-aided methods. The prepared bioink is then loaded on to a bioprinter. Several bioprinters have been developed and also commercially sold. 3D bioprinters are specifically developed for printing live cells with or without biomaterials with no or minimum damages to cells. After bioprinting tissue or organ substitutes, they can be maturated using bioreactors. The bioprinted constructs can be used in not only regenerative medicine, tissue engineering but also in drug discovery.

This Research Topic will cover recent advances in 3D bioprinting including computational methods, methods, applications and future challenges.

Keywords: 3D printing, bioprinting, three dimensional bioprinting, additive manufacturing, mechanical engineering, bioinks, computer-aided design, bioprinter, tissue engineering, tissue/organ models, mechanics

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