Biomatrices and biomaterials for future developments of bioprinting and biofabrication

TLDR

Cell‑based direct biofabrication represents the next frontier beyond scaffold‑based tissue engineering, yet it requires exclusively biocompatible materials and physiological manufacturing conditions unlike conventional industrial 3D printing that employs diverse chemical materials. The study aims to examine hydrogel roles in biofabrication and highlight the necessity of identifying suitable biomatrices as the next critical step. The system employs alginate and fibrin hydrogels, each offering distinct advantages and disadvantages. The developed direct 3D cell‑printing system using inkjet droplets and gelation demonstrates promising potential to build multi‑cellular 3D structures.

Abstract

The next step beyond conventional scaffold-based tissue engineering is cell-based direct biofabrication techniques. In industrial processes, various three-dimensional (3D) prototype models have been fabricated using several different rapid prototyping methods, such as stereo-lithography, 3D printing and laser sintering, as well as others, in which a variety of chemical materials are utilized. However, with direct cell-based biofabrication, only biocompatible materials can be used, and the manufacturing process must be performed under biocompatible and physiological conditions. We have developed a direct 3D cell printing system using inkjet and gelation techniques with inkjet droplets, and found that it had good potential to construct 3D structures with multiple types of cells. With this system, we have used alginate and fibrin hydrogel materials, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. Herein, we discuss the roles of hydrogel for biofabrication and show that further developments in biofabrication technology with biomatrices will play a major part, as will developments in manufacturing technology. It is important to explore suitable biomatrices as the next key step in biofabrication techniques.