3D bioprinting technologies for cellular engineering

Abstract

Bioprinting encompasses the use of additive manufacturing methods for the purpose of creating cellular constructs of varying complexity into prescribed geometrical forms (i.e. individual cells, cell agglomerates, tissues, and organs). Collectively, these methods offer many advantages over scaffold-based fabrication, including the ability to pattern complex cellular constructs on relevant length scales, the ability to tailor and modulate the extracellular environment with high precision, a means to study cell differentiation and proliferation under conditions that mimic natural biological environments, and a means to fabricate 3d tissue constructs of geometrical complexity approaching that of biological systems. Unlike industrial additive manufacturing, however, bioprinting faces additional challenges that deal with cell sensitivity and viability, the need for precise spatial and chemical tuning of the extra cellular environment, and more generally the creation of functional constructs that approximate biological tissue. In this chapter, we discuss how these challenges are being met by various bioprinting approaches, with a focus on the underlying mechanical and biological principles.