Inkjet-based 3D bioprinting

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting techniques, developed over the past two decades, have the potential to fabricate living, patient-specific tissues and organs for use in regenerative medicine (Kesti et al. 2016). Inkjet-based bioprinting is one of the oldest yet promising technologies, which combines the solid freeform fabrication process and precise cell placement in 2D and 3D. Typically, inkjet printing takes digital data of an image or character from a computer and reproduces it on to a material or substrate using ink drops in a noncontact mode (Mohebi and Evans 2002). In addition to its wide application in automation office tool, it has also been widely used in microengineering for printing electronic materials (Sirringhaus et al. 2000). Inkjet printer deposits controlled volume of ink in a layer-by-layer fashion to predefined locations on successive layers to form a 3D construct (Xu et al. 2008). Drop-on-demand (DOD) printers, a commonly used inkjet printers, are used for biological and nonbiological applications. The idea of printing of biological substances was introduced by Klebe after using HP thermal DOD inkjet printer to deposit collagen and fibronectin in 1988 (Klebe 1988). Later, Thomas Boland customized the thermal inkjet printer for printing living cells in a viable state (Wilson and Boland 2003). After this, scientists have made great progress in patterning molecules such as DNA, depositing proteins (Eric et al. 2009, Ilkhanizadeh et al. 2007, Miller et al. 2006), and printing tissues and organs by inkjet printing (Okamoto et al. 2000). The current focus of inkjet bioprinting is fabrication of 3D structures with clinically significant heights to extend its effectiveness in the direction of clinical applications. In this chapter, we discuss about the principle of inkjet bioprinting technology, types of inkjet printers in use, materials used for printing, and the critical parameters involved in this technique. Then, challenges associated with techniques and the future perspectives are also discussed.