What is it? How does it work? Dermatological uses Non-dermatologcial uses Benefits Disadvantages Side effects Contraindications
Three-dimensional bioprinting or 3D bioprinting is an emerging technology that uses 3D printing techniques to deposit biological material to create artificial tissues and organs.
Living cells and extracellular matrices can be ‘printed’ to create replacement organs, skin grafts, and intricate skin structures. 3D bioprinting, a form of bioengineered skin, has the potential to be used for disease modelling, personalised treatment, drug testing, and skin regeneration. The epidermal, dermal, and subcutaneous tissue layers of skin can be printed separately.
3D bioprinting uses imaging data to create a precise digital model of the desired tissue or organ. The 3D printer then deposits living cells or composite materials layer by layer in a pattern that mimics the original organ.
Once the bioprinting process is complete, the tissue or organ is incubated in an environment that promotes cell maturation. The cells fuse and mature, eventually creating functional tissue or an organ that can be used for transplantation, grafting, or other purposes.
The raw materials that emerge from a 3D bioprinter can be broken down into three main components — cells, biomaterials, and growth factors:
Synthetic, 3D bioprinted skin substitutes can be created for patients with burns, wounds, severely damaged skin, or other injuries that require skin grafts.
Skin substitutes containing human adipose-derived stem cells and human keratinocytes have been successfully used to treat diabetic wounds. They improved wound healing compared to traditional wound dressings.
Human skin models have been used to test the safety and effectiveness of new drugs and cosmetics, reducing the need for animal testing and accelerating the process of drug development.
Skin models have been created to study specific diseases, such as atopic dermatitis (eczema), psoriasis, and skin cancer. The reproducibility of the 3D printed models may also help develop new treatments. Reported models have included:
Skin models can be created with a disease state specific to an individual patient to develop treatment plans unique to the patient’s skin type and physiology. Patient-derived 3D skin models have been used to develop:
3D bioprinting can create a scaffold to implant into a chronic wound, promoting tissue regeneration.
Once technical and ethical challenges have been overcome, 3D bioprinting using the patient’s own cells could eventually be used to create replacement organs for patients in need of a transplant, eliminating:
Sections of 3D bioprinted bone have already been successfully surgically implanted into humans. 3D bioprinted skin, cartilage, and blood vessels can be used to repair injuries or congenital defects. Living tissue with blood vessels has been 3D bioprinted and implanted into animals, creating experimental structures such as a jawbone, ear, and muscle.
3D bioprinted models could be used to determine drug pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Researchers have created tiny models of the liver, heart, and kidney that proved accurate in predicting the toxicity of different drugs.
As 3D bioprinting is currently experimental, its disadvantages are not fully determined. They include:
Side effects and risks of 3D bioprinting may include:
Contraindications to 3D bioprinting have not yet been determined.
