Bioprinters are being extensively used for different applications in life sciences and medicine in general and more specifically in regenerative medicine, tissue, and organ fabrication. The technology has matured from its purely academic origin owing to the involvement of materials science, engineering, biology, and physics, as well as commercial entities. Nevertheless, despite the progress in the science and the understanding of the mechanisms underlying the various bioprinting technologies, further efforts are needed to develop more quantitative strategies. In particular, predictive modeling is necessary to optimize the printing parameters and thus enhance the quality of the final products. Here, we review the physics that underpins the most commonly employed approaches, such as extrusion, laser-based, and inkjet bioprinting. We provide an overview of the relevant parameters, their inter-relationships, and the equations that govern the various printing processes and thus allow for their optimization. We present our perspective on the field and views on future strategies for its further advancement. Our intention with this review is to provide the practitioners of bioprinting with additional tools to enhance the quantitative aspects of their work and move the technology beyond its early, mostly “trial and error” character.
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Physics of bioprinting
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June 2019
Review Article|
June 04 2019
Physics of bioprinting
Special Collection:
3D Bioprinting: Physical and Chemical Processes
Ashkan Shafiee
;
Ashkan Shafiee
a)
1
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA
a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: ashafiee@wakehealth.edu
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Elham Ghadiri
;
Elham Ghadiri
1
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA
2
Department of Chemistry, Wake Forest University
, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109, USA
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Haripriya Ramesh
;
Haripriya Ramesh
3
UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering
, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
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Carlos Kengla
;
Carlos Kengla
1
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA
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Jareer Kassis;
Jareer Kassis
1
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA
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Paul Calvert;
Paul Calvert
4
Department of Chemical Engineering, New Mexico Tech
, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, USA
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David Williams
;
David Williams
1
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA
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Ali Khademhosseini
;
Ali Khademhosseini
5
Department of Bioengineering, Department of Radiology, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Center for Minimally Invasive Therapeutics, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of California
, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
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Roger Narayan
;
Roger Narayan
3
UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering
, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, USA
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Gabor Forgacs;
Gabor Forgacs
6
Department of Physics, University of Missouri
, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
7
Modern Meadow, Inc.
, Nutley, New Jersey 07110, USA
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Anthony Atala
Anthony Atala
1
Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine
, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27157, USA
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a)Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: ashafiee@wakehealth.edu
Note: This paper is part of the Special Topic on 3D Bioprinting: Physical and Chemical Processes.
Appl. Phys. Rev. 6, 021315 (2019)
Article history
Received:
December 29 2018
Accepted:
April 23 2019
Citation
Ashkan Shafiee, Elham Ghadiri, Haripriya Ramesh, Carlos Kengla, Jareer Kassis, Paul Calvert, David Williams, Ali Khademhosseini, Roger Narayan, Gabor Forgacs, Anthony Atala; Physics of bioprinting. Appl. Phys. Rev. 1 June 2019; 6 (2): 021315. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5087206
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