Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has been widely used in various manufacturing operations including automotive, defence and space industries. 3D printing has the advantages of personalization, flexibility and high resolution, and is therefore becoming increasingly visible in the high-tech fields. Three-dimensional bio-printing technology also holds promise for future use in medical applications. At present 3D bio-printing is mainly used for simulating and reconstructing some hard tissues or for preparing drug-delivery systems in the medical area. The fabrication of 3D structures with living cells and bioactive moieties spatially distributed throughout will be realisable. Fabrication of complex tissues and organs is still at the exploratory stage. This review summarize the development of 3D bio-printing and its potential in medical applications, as well as discussing the current challenges faced by 3D bio-printing.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Hull, Charles W. Apparatus for production of three-dimensional objects by stereolithography. US Patent, 4575330, 1986-3-11
Melchels FP, Feijen J, Grijpma DW. A review on stereolithography and its applications in biomedical engineering. Biomaterials, 2010, 31: 6121–6130
Koch L, Gruene M, Unger C, Chichkov B. Laser assisted cell printing. Curr Pharm Biotechnol, 2013, 14: 91–97
Zuzak K, Cadeddu JA, Ufret-Vincenty R, Francis RP, Livingston E. Digital light processing hyperspectral imaging apparatus. US 08406859
Sun C, Fang N, Wu DM, Zhang X. Projection micro-stereolithography using digital micro-mirror dynamic mask. Sensor Actuat a-Phys, 2005, 121: 113–120
Bourell DL, Marcus HL, Barlow JW, Beaman JJ. Selective laser sintering of metals and ceramics. Int J Powder Metall, 1992, 28: 369–381
Ulbrich CBL, Zavaglia CAC, Neto PI, Oliveira MF, Silva JVL. Comparison of five rapid prototype techniques (SLS/FDM/DLP/3DP/polyjet). Innov Dev Virtual Phys Prot, 2012, 573–580
Anitha R, Arunachalam S, Radhakrishnan P. Critical parameters influencing the quality of prototypes in fused deposition modelling. J Mater Process Tech, 2001, 118: 385–388
Tay BY, Evans JRG, Edirisinghe MJ. Solid freeform fabrication of ceramics. Int Mater Rev, 2003, 48: 341–370
Hornbeck, Larry J. Digital light processing for high-brightness high-resolution applications. In: Proceedings of Electronic Imaging’ 97. International Society for Optics and Photonics, 1997
Utela B, Storti D, Anderson R, Ganter M. A review of process development steps for new material systems in three dimensional printing (3DP). J Manufact Proc, 2008, 10: 96–104
Mueller B, Kochan D. Laminated object manufacturing for rapid tooling and patternmaking in foundry industry. Comput Ind, 1999, 39: 47–53
Singh R. Process capability study of polyjet printing for plastic components. J Mech Sci Technol, 2011, 25: 1011–1015
Jakab K, Norotte C, Marga F, Murphy K, Vunjak-Novakovic G, Forgacs G. Tissue engineering by self-assembly and bio-printing of living cells. Biofabrication, 2010, 2: 022001
Mironov V, Visconti RP, Kasyanov V, Forgacs G, Drake CJ, Markwald RR. Organ printing: tissue spheroids as building blocks. Biomaterials, 2009, 30: 2164–2174
Derby B. Printing and prototyping of tissues and scaffolds. Science, 2012, 338: 921–926
Ricci JL, Clark EA, Murriky A, Smay JE. Three-dimensional printing of bone repair and replacement materials: impact on craniofacial surgery. J Craniof Surg, 2012, 23: 304–308
Billiet T, Vandenhaute M, Schelfhout J, Van Vlierberghe S, Dubruel P. A review of trends and limitations in hydrogel-rapid prototyping for tissue engineering. Biomaterials, 2012, 33: 6020–6041
Vacanti CA. The history of tissue engineering. J Cell Mol Med, 2006, 10: 569–576
Langer R, Vacanti JP. Tissue engineering. Science, 1993, 260: 920–926
Sekine H, Shimizu T, Yang J, Kobayashi E, Okano T. Pulsatile myocardial tubes fabricated with cell sheet engineering. Circulation, 2006, 114: I87–93
Macchiarini P, Jungebluth P, Go T, Asnaghi MA, Rees LE, Cogan TA, Dodson A, Martorell J, Bellini S, Parnigotto PP, Dickinson SC, Hollander AP, Mantero S, Conconi MT, Birchall MA. Clinical transplantation of a tissue-engineered airway. Lancet, 2008, 372: 2023–2030
Delaere PR, Hermans R. Clinical transplantation of a tissue-engineered airway. Lancet, 2009, 373: 717–718; author reply 718–719
Atala A, Bauer SB, Soker S, Yoo JJ, Retik AB. Tissue-engineered autologous bladders for patients needing cystoplasty. Lancet, 2006, 367: 1241–1246
Hernon CA, Dawson RA, Freedlander E, Short R, Haddow DB, Brotherston M, MacNeil S. Clinical experience using cultured epithelial autografts leads to an alternative methodology for transferring skin cells from the laboratory to the patient. Regen Med, 2006, 1: 809–821
Haraguchi Y, Shimizu T, Sasagawa T, Sekine H, Sakaguchi K, Kikuchi T, Sekine W, Sekiya S, Yamato M, Umezu M, Okano T. Fabrication of functional three-dimensional tissues by stacking cell sheets in vitro. Nat Protoc, 2012, 7: 850–858
Stanton RA, Billmire DA. Skin resurfacing for the burned patient. Clin Plast Surg, 2002, 29: 29–51
Muraoka M, Shimizu T, Itoga K, Takahashi H, Okano T. Control of the formation of vascular networks in 3D tissue engineered constructs. Biomaterials, 2013, 34: 696–703
Groeber F, Holeiter M, Hampel M, Hinderer S, Schenke-Layland K. Skin tissue engineering—in vivo and in vitro applications. Adv Drug Deliv Rev, 2011, 63: 352–366
Shim JH, Kim JY, Park JK, Hahn SK, Rhie JW, Kang SW, Lee SH, Cho DW. Effect of thermal degradation of SFF-based PLGA scaffolds fabricated using a multi-head deposition system followed by change of cell growth rate. J Biomater Sci Polym Ed, 2010, 21: 1069–1080
Sekine H, Shimizu T, Sakaguchi K, Dobashi I, Wada M, Yamato M, Kobayashi E, Umezu M, Okano T. In vitro fabrication of functional three-dimensional tissues with perfusable blood vessels. Nat Commun, 2013, 4: 1399
Moon S, Kim YG, Dong L, Lombardi M, Haeggstrom E, Jensen RV, Hsiao LL, Demirci U. Drop-on-demand single cell isolation and total RNA analysis. PLoS One, 2011, 6: e17455
Sirringhaus H, Kawase T, Friend RH, Shimoda T, Inbasekaran M, Wu W, Woo EP. High-resolution inkjet printing of all-polymer transistor circuits. Science, 2000, 290: 2123–2126
Yeong WY, Chua CK, Leong KF, Chandrasekaran M, Lee MW. Indirect fabrication of collagen scaffold based on inkjet printing technique. Rapid Prot J, 2006, 12: 229–237
Weng B, Liu X, Shepherd R, Wallace GG. Inkjet printed polypyrrole/collagen scaffold: a combination of spatial control and electrical stimulation of PC12 cells. Syn Met, 2012, 162: 1375–1380
Nakamura M, Kobayashi A, Takagi F, Watanabe A, Hiruma Y, Ohuchi K, Iwasaki Y, Horie M, Morita I, Takatani S. Biocompatible inkjet printing technique for designed seeding of individual living cells. Tissue Eng, 2005, 11: 1658–1666
Li W, Sun W, Zhang Y, Wei W, Ambasudhan R, Xia P, Talantova M, Lin T, Kim J, Wang X, Kim WR, Lipton SA, Zhang K, Ding S. Rapid induction and long-term self-renewal of primitive neural precursors from human embryonic stem cells by small molecule inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2011, 108: 8299–8304
Fang Y, Frampton JP, Raghavan S, Sabahi-Kaviani R, Luker G, Deng CX, Takayama S. Rapid generation of multiplexed cell cocultures using acoustic droplet ejection followed by aqueous two-phase exclusion patterning. Tissue Eng Part C Methods, 2012, 18: 647–657
Demirci U, Montesano G. Single cell epitaxy by acoustic picolitre droplets. Lab Chip, 2007, 7: 1139–1145
Trappmann B, Chen CS. How cells sense extracellular matrix stiffness: a material’s perspective. Curr Opin Biotech, 2013, 24: 948–953
Tschumperlin DJ, Liu F, Tager AM. Biomechanical regulation of mesenchymal cell function. Curr Opin Rheumatol, 2013, 25: 92–100
Lee M, Wu BM. Recent advances in 3D printing of tissue engineering scaffolds. Methods Mol Biol, 2012, 868: 257–267
Matsumoto K, Ishiduka T, Yamada H, Yonehara Y, Arai Y, Honda K. Clinical use of three-dimensional models of the temporomandibular joint established by rapid prototyping based on cone-beam computed tomography imaging data. Oral Radiol, 2014, 30: 98–104
Kawaguchi N, Hatta K, Nakanishi T. 3D-culture system for heart regeneration and cardiac medicine. Biomed Res Int, 2013, 2013: 895967
Page H, Flood P, Reynaud EG. Three-dimensional tissue cultures: Current trends and beyond. Cell Tissue Res, 2013, 352: 123–131
Jakab K, Norotte C, Damon B, Marga F, Neagu A, Besch-Williford CL, Kachurin A, Church KH, Park H, Mironov V, Markwald R, Vunjak-Novakovic G, Forgacs G. Tissue engineering by self-assembly of cells printed into topologically defined structures. Tissue Eng Part A, 2008, 14: 413–421
Koch L, Kuhn S, Sorg H, Gruene M, Schlie S, Gaebel R, Polchow B, Reimers K, Stoelting S, Ma N, Vogt PM, Steinhoff G, Chichkov B. Laser printing of skin cells and human stem cells. Tissue Eng Part C Methods, 2010, 16: 847–854
Gruene M, Pflaum M, Hess C, Diamantouros S, Schlie S, Deiwick A, Koch L, Wilhelmi M, Jockenhoevel S, Haverich A, Chichkov B. Laser printing of three-dimensional multicellular arrays for studies of cell-cell and cell-environment interactions. Tissue Eng Part C Methods, 2011, 17: 973–982
Derby B. Bioprinting: Inkjet printing proteins and hybrid cell-containing materials and structures. J Mater Chem, 2008, 18: 5717–5721
De Cossart L, How T, Annis D. A two year study of the performance of a small diameter polyurethane (biomer) arterial prosthesis. J Cardiovasc Surg, 1989, 30: 388
Wu LQ, Payne GF. Biofabrication: using biological materials and biocatalysts to construct nanostructured assemblies. Trends Biotechnol, 2004, 22: 593–599
Mironov V, Trusk T, Kasyanov V, Little S, Swaja R, Markwald R. Biofabrication: a 21st century manufacturing paradigm. Biofabrication, 2009, 1: 022001
Odde DJ, Renn MJ. Laser-guided direct writing for applications in biotechnology. Trends Biotechnol, 1999, 17: 385–389
Choi WS, Ha D, Park S, Kim T. Synthetic multicellular cell-to-cell communication in inkjet printed bacterial cell systems. Biomaterials, 2011, 32: 2500–2507
Guillemot F, Souquet A, Catros S, Guillotin B, Lopez J, Faucon M, Pippenger B, Bareille R, Rémy M, Bellance S. High-throughput laser printing of cells and biomaterials for tissue engineering. Acta Biomater, 2010, 6: 2494–2500
Pepper ME, Parzel CA, Burg T, Boland T, Burg KJL, Groff RE. Design and implementation of a two-dimensional inkjet bioprinter. In: Proceedings of Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2009. 6001–6005
Ringeisen BR, Kim H, Barron JA, Krizman DB, Chrisey DB, Jackman S, Auyeung R, Spargo BJ. Laser printing of pluripotent embryonal carcinoma cells. Tissue Eng, 2004, 10: 483–491
Barron J, Spargo B, Ringeisen B. Biological laser printing of three dimensional cellular structures. Appl Phys A, 2004, 79: 1027–1030
Barron JA, Krizman DB, Ringeisen BR. Laser printing of single cells: statistical analysis, cell viability, and stress. Ann Biomed Eng, 2005, 33: 121–130
Guillotin B, Souquet A, Catros S, Duocastella M, Pippenger B, Bellance S, Bareille R, Rémy M, Bordenave L, Amédée J. Laser assisted bioprinting of engineered tissue with high cell density and microscale organization. Biomaterials, 2010, 31: 7250–7256
Wilson WC, Boland T. Cell and organ printing 1: Protein and cell printers. Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol, 2003, 272: 491–496
Nishiyama Y, Nakamura M, Henmi C, Yamaguchi K, Mochizuki S, Nakagawa H, Takiura K. Development of a three-dimensional bioprinter: construction of cell supporting structures using hydrogel and state-of-the-art inkjet technology. J Biomech Eng, 2009, 131:035001
Ahmed EM. Hydrogel: preparation, characterization, and applications. J Adv Res, 2015, 6: 105–121
Levett PA, Melchels FP, Schrobback K, Hutmacher DW, Malda J, Klein TJ. A biomimetic extracellular matrix for cartilage tissue engineering centered on photocurable gelatin, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate. Acta Biomater, 2014, 10: 214–223
Schuurman W, Levett PA, Pot MW, van Weeren PR, Dhert WJ, Hutmacher DW, Melchels FP, Klein TJ, Malda J. Gelatin-methacrylamide hydrogels as potential biomaterials for fabrication of tissue-engineered cartilage constructs. Macromol Biosci, 2013, 13: 551–561
Billiet T, Gevaert E, De Schryver T, Cornelissen M, Dubruel P. The 3D printing of gelatin methacrylamide cell-laden tissue-engineered constructs with high cell viability. Biomaterials, 2014, 35: 49–62
Aguado BA, Mulyasasmita W, Su J, Lampe KJ, Heilshorn SC. Improving viability of stem cells during syringe needle flow through the design of hydrogel cell carriers. Tissue Eng Pt A, 2011, 18: 806–815
Kucukgul C, Ozler SB, Inci I, Karakas E, Irmak S, Gozuacik D, Taralp A, Koc B. 3D bioprinting of biomimetic aortic vascular constructs with self-supporting cells. Biotechnol Bioeng, 2015, 112: 811–821
Ratcliffe JH, Hunneyball IM, Smith A, Wilson CG, Davis SS. Preparation and evaluation of biodegradable polymeric systems for the intra-articular delivery of drugs. J Pharm Pharmacol, 1984, 36: 431–436
Van Den Bulcke AI, Bogdanov B, De Rooze N, Schacht EH, Cornelissen M, Berghmans H. Structural and rheological properties of methacrylamide modified gelatin hydrogels. Biomacromolecules, 2000, 1: 31–38
Chung JHY, Naficy S, Yue ZL, Kapsa R, Quigley A, Moulton SE, Wallace GG. Bio-ink properties and printability for extrusion printing living cells. Biomater Sci, 2013, 1: 763–773
Detsch R, Sarker B, Grigore A, Boccaccini AR. Alginate and gelatine blending for bone cell printing and biofabrication. In: IASTED International Conference Biomedical Engineering Innsbruck. Austria: ACTA Press, 2013. 451–455
Zhang K, Chou CK, Xia X, Hung MC, Qin L. Block-cell-printing for live single-cell printing. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2014, 111: 2948–2953
Yeong WY, Sudarmadji N, Yu HY, Chua CK, Leong KF, Venkatraman SS, Boey YC, Tan LP. Porous polycaprolactone scaffold for cardiac tissue engineering fabricated by selective laser sintering. Acta Biomater, 2010, 6: 2028–2034
Schantz JT, Brandwood A, Hutmacher DW, Khor HL, Bittner K. Osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal progenitor cells in computer designed fibrin-polymer-ceramic scaffolds manufactured by fused deposition modeling. J Mater Sci Mater Med, 2005, 16: 807–819
Cao T, Ho KH, Teoh SH. Scaffold design and in vitro study of osteochondral coculture in a three-dimensional porous polycaprolactone scaffold fabricated by fused deposition modeling. Tissue Eng, 2003, 9Suppl 1: S103–112
Chien KB, Makridakis E, Shah RN. Three-dimensional printing of soy protein scaffolds for tissue regeneration. Tissue Eng Part C Methods, 2013, 19: 417–426
Shim JH, Lee JS, Kim JY, Cho DW. Bioprinting of a mechanically enhanced three-dimensional dual cell-laden construct for osteochondral tissue engineering using a multi-head tissue/organ building system. J Micromech Microeng, 2012, 22: 085014
Lee W, Lee V, Polio S, Keegan P, Lee JH, Fischer K, Park JK, Yoo SS. On-demand three-dimensional freeform fabrication of multi-layered hydrogel scaffold with fluidic channels. Biotechnol Bioeng, 2010, 105: 1178–1186
Xu F, Sridharan B, Wang S, Gurkan UA, Syverud B, Demirci U. Embryonic stem cell bioprinting for uniform and controlled size embryoid body formation. Biomicrofluidics, 2011, 5: 022207
Gaebel R, Ma N, Liu J, Guan J, Koch L, Klopsch C, Gruene M, Toelk A, Wang W, Mark P. Patterning human stem cells and endothelial cells with laser printing for cardiac regeneration. Biomaterials, 2011, 32: 9218–9230
Billiet T, Gevaert E, De Schryver T, Cornelissen M, Dubruel P. The 3D printing of gelatin methacrylamide cell-laden tissue-engineered constructs with high cell viability. Biomaterials, 2014, 35: 49–62
Marcos R, Monteiro RA, Rocha E. Design-based stereological estimation of hepatocyte number, by combining the smooth optical fractionator and immunocytochemistry with anti-carcinoembryonic antigen polyclonal antibodies. Liver Int, 2006, 26: 116–124
Cui X, Breitenkamp K, Finn MG, Lotz M, D’Lima DD. Direct human cartilage repair using three-dimensional bioprinting technology. Tissue Eng Part A, 2012, 18: 1304–1312
Butscher A, Bohner M, Hofmann S, Gauckler L, Müller R. Structural and material approaches to bone tissue engineering in powder-based three-dimensional printing. Acta Biomater, 2011, 7: 907–920
Bartolo PJ, Almeida H, Laoui T. Rapid prototyping and manufacturing for tissue engineering scaffolds. Int J Comput Appl Technol, 2009, 36: 1–9
Seitz H, Rieder W, Irsen S, Leukers B, Tille C. Three-dimensional printing of porous ceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. J Biomed Mater Res Part B Appl Biomater, 2005, 74: 782–788
Yang S, Leong KF, Du Z, Chua CK. The design of scaffolds for use in tissue engineering. Part II. Rapid prototyping techniques. Tissue Eng, 2002, 8: 1–11
Ang T, Sultana F, Hutmacher D, Wong YS, Fuh J, Mo X, Loh HT, Burdet E, Teoh SH. Fabrication of 3D chitosan-hydroxyapatite scaffolds using a robotic dispensing system. Mater Sci Eng C, 2002, 20: 35–42
Liu Tsang V, Bhatia SN. Three-dimensional tissue fabrication. Adv Drug Deliv Rev, 2004, 56: 1635–1647
Mironov V, Prestwich G, Forgacs G. Bioprinting living structures. J Mater Chem, 2007, 17: 2054–2060
Hassan W, Dong Y, Wang W. Encapsulation and 3D culture of human adipose-derived stem cells in an in-situ crosslinked hybrid hydrogel composed of peg-based hyperbranched copolymer and hyaluronic acid. Stem Cell Res Ther, 2013, 4: 32
Engler AJ, Sen S, Sweeney HL, Discher DE. Matrix elasticity directs stem cell lineage specification. Cell, 2006, 126: 677–689
Mei Y, Saha K, Bogatyrev SR, Yang J, Hook AL, Kalcioglu ZI, Cho SW, Mitalipova M, Pyzocha N, Rojas F, Van Vliet KJ, Davies MC, Alexander MR, Langer R, Jaenisch R, Anderson DG. Combinatorial development of biomaterials for clonal growth of human pluripotent stem cells. Nat Mater, 2010, 9: 768–778
Lee S, Kim J, Park TJ, Shin Y, Lee SY, Han YM, Kang S, Park HS. The effects of the physical properties of culture substrates on the growth and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells. Biomaterials, 2011, 32: 8816–8829
Pati F, Jang J, Ha DH, Won Kim S, Rhie JW, Shim JH, Kim DH, Cho DW. Printing three-dimensional tissue analogues with decellularized extracellular matrix bioink. Nat Commun, 2014, 5: 3935
Mondy WL, Cameron D, Timmermans J-P, De Clerck N, Sasov A, Casteleyn C, Piegl LA. Computer-aided design of microvasculature systems for use in vascular scaffold production. Biofabrication, 2009, 1: 035002
Duan B, Hockaday LA, Kang KH, Butcher JT. 3D bioprinting of heterogeneous aortic valve conduits with alginate/gelatin hydrogels. J Biomed Mater Res A, 2013, 101: 1255–1264
Murphy SV, Atala A. 3D bioprinting of tissues and organs. Nat Biotechnol, 2014, 32: 773–785
Chang CC, Boland ED, Williams SK, Hoying JB. Direct-write bioprinting three-dimensional biohybrid systems for future regenerative therapies. J Biomed Mater Res Part B Appl Biomater, 2011, 98: 160–170
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
This article is published with open access at springerlink.bibliotecabuap.elogim.com
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Gu, Q., Hao, J., Lu, Y. et al. Three-dimensional bio-printing. Sci. China Life Sci. 58, 411–419 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-015-4850-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-015-4850-3