State-of-art affordable bioprinters: A guide for the DiY community

Abstract

The use of bioprinting as a powerful tool for tissue and organ fabrication has been a promising development in the field of biomedicine, offering unprecedented versatility in the fabrication of biologically and physiologically relevant constructs. Even though there are a plethora of commercial bioprinters available in the market, most of them are overly expensive. Thus, university facilities and independent research groups often find it difficult, if not impossible, to equip themselves with such machinery. In this Review, we analyze affordable alternatives to commercial bioprinters, which are presented by the Do-it-Yourself (DiY) community. First, we discuss the current state of these low-cost technologies, and the advances made to bridge the divergence between marketed bioprinters and DiY devices. Afterwards, the different bioprinting technologies that are most commonplace for these low-cost devices are examined. Additionally, an overview of the pioneering DiY bioprinters takes place, as well as the open-source software alternatives to control these bioprinters. Next, we analyze the different factors to take into consideration during the bioprinting workflow, such as bioinks, computer-aided models, and bioprinting parameters. Finally, we conclude with a brief assessment of current limitations and potential solutions, as well as future developments in the arena of bioprinting.