3D bioprinting in tissue engineering: current state-of-the-art and challenges towards system standardization and clinical translation
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Over the past decade, three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting has made significant progress, transforming into a key innovation in tissue engineering. Despite the early strides, critical challenges remain in 3D bioprinting that must be addressed to accelerate clinical translation. In particular, there is still a long way to go before functionally-mature, clinically-relevant tissue equivalents are developed. Current limitations range from the sub-optimal bioink properties and degree of biomimicry of bioprintable architectures, to the lack of stem/progenitor cells for massive cell expansion, and fundamental knowledge regarding in vitro culturing conditions. In addition to these problems, the absence of guidelines and well-regulated international standards is creating uncertainty among the biofabrication community stakeholders regarding the reliable and scalable production processes. This review aims at exploring the latest developments in 3D bioprinting approaches, including various additive manufacturing techniques and their applications. A thorough discussion of common bioprinting techniques and recent progresses are compiled along with notable recent studies. Later we discuss the current challenges in clinical application of 3D bioprinting and the major bottlenecks in the commercialization of 3D bioprinted tissue equivalents, including the longevity of bioprinted organs, meeting biomechanical requirements, and the often underrated ethical and legal aspects. Amidst the progress of regulatory efforts for regenerative medicine, we also present an overview of the current regulatory concerns which should be taken into account to translate bioprinted tissues into clinical practice. At last, this review emphasizes future directions in 3D bioprinting that includes the transformative ideas such as bioprinting in microgravity and the integration of artificial intelligence. The study concludes with a discussion on the need for collaborative efforts in resolving the technical and regulatory constraints to improve the quality, reliability, and reproducibility of bioprinted tissue equivalents to ultimately accomplish their successful clinical implementation.
Source: Biofabrication
Authors: Tarun Agarwal, Valentina Onesto, Dishary Banerjee, Shengbo Guo, Alessandro Polini, Caleb Vogt, Abhishek Viswanath, Timothy Esworthy, Haitao Cui, Aaron O’Donnell, Kiran Yellappa Vajanthri, Lorenzo Moroni, Ibrahim T Ozbolat, Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, Lijie Grace Zhang, Marco Costantini, Tapas Kumar Maiti
Institutions: George Washington University, Italian Institute of Technology, Istituto di Nanotecnologia, Center for Advanced Biomaterials for Healthcare, Pennsylvania State University, University of California San Diego, National Research Council, University of Minnesota, Institute of Physical Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Chongqing University, Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology, Maastricht University, Cukurova University, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G2322959628, G4838815
OpenAlex ID: W4411264066