A Review on Organ Printing: Computer Aided Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Organ Printing is an application of stereolithography first introduced by Chuck Hull in 1984 and has gained momentum since. Also called as Bioprinting, it involves 3D printing of organs using different Biofluids and cell assembly techniques. The main purpose is to overcome the receding number of donors of organs due to many factors. Therefore, Bioprinting offers a better approach for solving modern crisis. It not just helps in upgradation of Organ transplant techniques, but also propels studies and researches, thus, playing its better part in health ecosystem. Bioprinting works in a synchronous manner with the existing medical hardware. Through communication, the bioprinting software intercepts a draft for the specimen and then transfers the necessary to the printing apparatus. The bio-inks and hydrogel then, form the synthetic organ as per the design received, the usage of bio inks, self-assembling cells, and hydrogels which are led to produce the synthetic organ with the ability to retain all the physiological functions as the natural organ. Bioprinting offers many advantages compared to the traditional 2D tissue engineering. It’s more accurate, produces better results and, the end organs are more comparable to the actual one. Bioprinting was introduced in 1987 and since then it had seen many progressions and advancements, still the struggle to commercialize it and reduce the operational costs is continued. Bioprinting is not fully automated and needs human intervention and has room for errors, availability of a singular apparatus is also needed and, sourcing of materials is another challenge. Altogether, Bioprinting is an excellent craft of developing synthetic organs for medical uses and studies and it is still is not ripe enough to be capable of full-fledged functioning. Couple of decades would see the immense scaleup of this technique into a fully functioning sector of the health care system.