3D Bioprinting
3D bioprinting, also known as additive manufacturing, is an innovative process that merges advanced printing technology with medical science to create replacement tissues, cells, and organs through layer-by-layer fabrication. Originating from traditional 3D printing techniques, this technology has gained prominence in the 21st century, finding applications not only in medicine but also in engineering, manufacturing, art, and education. The process involves intricate considerations, including the selection of materials and cell types, as well as the technical challenges associated with living cells and tissue composition.
The journey of 3D bioprinting began with Charles Hull's invention of stereolithography in 1983, which laid the groundwork for creating three-dimensional structures based on computer-aided design. Significant milestones include the first successful printing of a synthetic human bladder in 1999 and the creation of functional kidney models in 2002. Today, 3D bioprinting has transformed surgical practices, enabling the production of customized implants and accurate replicas of patient organs for pre-surgery simulations.
As the global population ages and the demand for organ transplants and drug therapies increases, researchers and companies worldwide continue to work toward developing fully functional tissues and organs, highlighting both the potential and ongoing challenges of this groundbreaking technology.
3D Bioprinting
3D bioprinting, often referred to as additive manufacturing, is a combination of advanced technology and medical science. Using the same single layer-by-layer fabrication methods advanced in ordinary 3D printing, 3D bioprinting takes the process to new medical heights and has enabled the technology to create replacement tissues, cells, and organs that are printed layer by layer into a three-dimensional structure. It has been implemented in the twenty-first century in many spheres, such as engineering, manufacturing, art, and education, in addition to its primary purpose: medicine.
3D bioprinting involves many complex issues, such as the choice of materials, cell types, growth, and differentiation factors and technical challenges related to the various living cells and the composition of tissues. Research into these complexities remained ongoing and has often been done in combination with the fields of biomaterials science, cell biology, engineering, physics, and others. The process has already been used in skin, bone, and vascular grafts; heart tissue; tracheal splints; and cartilaginous structures.
Background
The idea of printing human organs was first introduced in 1983 when Charles Hull invented stereolithography, a special type of printing that depended on a laser to solidify a polymer material extruded from a spigot. Hull followed instructions for its design sent to him by an engineer who defined the 3D shape of an object in computer-aided design (CAD) software and then sent the file to the printer. Hull and his codevelopers were then able to develop the file format, known as ".stl," that could carry data about the object's surface geometry denoted as a set of triangular faces.
The first design of the stereolithography could not create long-lasting results, so they used the process as an intermediary tool that would eventually be manufactured in a traditional manner. It was called prototyping, and a new industry developed around it. Hull established 3D Systems to manufacture 3D printers and the materials to go in them.
By the early 1990s, these developments morphed into a new generation of materials such as nanocomposites, which are blended plastics and powdered metals that are very durable and can produce strong, sturdy objects that are the actual finished products.
Medical researchers understood the potential of the 3D printing process and envisioned the development of 3D organs and other body parts. They needed the right resources to make this a reality, and eventually they succeeded. After several attempts, in 1999, the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine used a 3D printer to build a synthetic framework of a human bladder. The frame was then covered with cells taken from their patients, and it successfully grew working organs. This was the first step in the direction of true bioprinting.
Things moved quickly after that. In 2002, scientists used the 3D bioprinting process to produce a miniature functional kidney capable of filtering blood and producing urine in an animal model. By 2010, Organovo, a bioprinting company headquartered in San Diego, printed the first blood vessel and liver tissue.
3D Bioprinting Today
3D bioprinting in the twenty-first century is a big business, with more and more companies jumping into the arena. It has been used increasingly in the operating room, with surgeons creating tailor-made implants for their patients as well as for dental applications, prosthetics, hearing aids, and other medical devices. Additionally, rather than relying solely on MRI and CT scans, surgeons could print accurate replicas of patients' internal organs before entering the operating room and simulate complex procedures, providing their surgical teams with the proper guidance by taking them through the steps to be used later in the operating room. It was hoped that this process would increase the likelihood of a successful surgery.
The primary technologies used in the 3D bioprinting industry have been magnetic levitation, inkjet-based, syringe-based, and laser-based printing. Such technologies have been applied in toxicity screening, vascular smooth muscle printing, human cell generation, and the fabrication of scaffolds, cell strips, and tissues.
As populations all over the world continued to age and the need for drug therapies and organ transplantation remained high, researchers, as well as entire companies, worldwide worked on further advancing bioprinters and the capabilities of the technology. One of the main goals and challenges that remained into the 2020s was to produce fully functional tissues and organs.
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