Additive Manufacturing Technologies in Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery System

Abstract

3D printing is a technique that involves sequential deposition of materials in a layer-by-layer fashion to create three dimensional objects (hence also referred to as additive manufacturing) from a digital 3D model generated by computer-aided design (CAD) software which is obtained from a 3D scanner. Thus, objects generated using 3D printing have a broad spectrum of applications, ranging from rapid prototyping in electronics and robotic industries to 3D printing organoids using bio-ink in biomedical research. Recently, there has been a huge paradigm shift in the field of medicine toward personalized medicine. Hence, technologies that assist in modulating drug dosage based on genetic profiles have been vigorously evaluated, while technologies such as stereolithography, binder jetting and material extrusion have found profound applications in tissue engineering and other technologies such as fused deposition modelling, selective laser sintering, and material jetting. Many biomedical alloys used in implants are currently manufactured using direct energy deposition. The following article highlights its history, the difference between 3D printing and traditional manufacturing, the types of 3D printing techniques used, and the applications, advantages, and disadvantages of 3D printing.