4 - Extrusion-Based Bioprinting

Abstract

This chapter presents extrusion-based bioprinting (EBB) technology, which has made a substantial progress during the last decade. EBB has great versatility in printing various biologics including cells, tissues, tissue constructs, organ modules, and microfluidic devices in applications from basic research and pharmaceutics to clinics. EBB has great benefits and flexibility in printing a wide range of bioinks including tissue spheroids, tissue strands, cell pellet, microcarriers, decellularized matrix components, and cell-laden hydrogels due to its flexibility in using large nozzles and a wide variety of extrusion mechanisms. This chapter describes EBB technology, its working principle, and the underlying physics behind it, and presents comparison of EBB with respect to other bioprinting modalities, available process configurations, and the bioink materials used in EBB. In addition, current limitations are discussed and future prospects are presented to the reader.