thesis statement for 3d printing

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3D-printing form and function

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A critical review of 3D printing in construction: benefits, challenges, and risks

• Review Article
• Published: 10 March 2020
• Volume 20 , article number  34 , ( 2020 )

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• S. El-Sayegh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9127-0318 1 ,
• L. Romdhane   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8509-2386 2 &
• S. Manjikian 1  

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This paper provides a critical review of the related literature on 3D printing in construction. The paper discusses and evaluates the different 3D printing techniques in construction. The paper also discusses and categorizes the benefits, challenges, and risks of 3D printing in construction. The use of 3D printing technology offers several advantages over traditional methods. However, it comes with its own additional challenges and risks. The main benefits of 3D printing in construction include constructability and sustainability benefits. The challenges are categorized into seven groups. The main challenges, found through the literature, are material related. The most cited challenges are material printability, buildability, and open time. Additionally, scalability, structural integrity, and lack of codes and regulations are frequently cited as major challenges. The additional risks are categorized into seven groups: 3D printing material, 3D printing equipment, construction site, and environment, management, stakeholders, regulatory and economic, and cybersecurity risks. The paper fills a gap in the literature as it addresses a new aspect of 3D printing, which is risk. The paper also provides some insights, recommendations, and future research ideas.

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This work was supported in part by funding from the American University of Sharjah (Grant No. EFRG18-SCR-CEN-42).

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El-Sayegh, S., Romdhane, L. & Manjikian, S. A critical review of 3D printing in construction: benefits, challenges, and risks. Archiv.Civ.Mech.Eng 20 , 34 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43452-020-00038-w

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s43452-020-00038-w

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University of California Thesis: Reviewing 3D Printing in Construction, Including Mars

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Andrew Truong recently presented a thesis, ‘ State-of-the-Art Review on 3D Printing Technology Applications in Construction ,’ to the University of California , Irvine. Reviewing 3D printing in construction, Truong tackles a multi-faceted topic regarding materials, technique, and the future of the industry—even going as far as discussing the potential for construction on Mars.

Today industrial users may be experimenting with new modes of production , different composites , or working on a larger scale with concrete, but while so many benefits are available, challenges still remain too. This leaves researchers a lot of room for discussion and experimentation, and especially as new projects with different requirements arise.

Truong takes his readers on a short foray through the history and emergence of 3D printing in the mainstream, noting especially its impacts on applications within medicine, the emergence of RepRap Open Source and Makerbot , and the growing popularity of FDM 3D printing overall. With the opportunity for making big headlines, numerous companies have built homes, touting record speed, and huge potential for economic residences in the future.

The first version of RepRap design (Mendel) [Source: https://reprap.org/wiki/Build_A_RepRap]

“In the construction industry, 3D printing is used to manufacture structures with nearly zero waste, minimum costs, and faster building time. Within days, depending on the complexity and size of building, a new structure can be built that can be customized for each building iteration,” explains Truong.  “Houses built using 3D printing technology can be achieved by a variety of ways and each method of construction has its advantage and disadvantages.”

3D concrete printer in operation. No-slump concrete leaves the nozzle as a relatively stiff continuous filament. [23]

3DCP facility at the TU Eindhoven, with some examples of printed objects [23]

“The high resolution of the printing makes it able to print thin layers that are refined to have a finish exterior on the print. This nozzle houses the extrusion screw auger motor that pumps out the concrete before it is place on the 3D print,” states Truong. “The printer then moves in the direction and orientation of the printer to accurately 3D print the object. Therefore, the extrusion system has two motors. One motor is used to dispense the concrete out of the nozzle. The other motor is used to orient the nozzle in the correct direction. The shape of this nozzle creates a fine layer instead of a glob bead. The fine layer creates way for the 3D printer to have fine resolution prints in the same way a thermoplastic 3D printer works with a different print material and nozzle extruder.”

Printer head and nozzle. [23]

• Thermoplastics
• Photopolymers

The use of formworks in construction can lead to longer time in production, more waste of materials, and greater expense; with more streamlined techniques avoiding the need for frameworks, industrial users experience more latitude in design and actual ‘building.’ In constructing homes, no formworks are required.

“Doors and windows are built by placing a beam across the overhead gap while 3D printing or modular piece by piece construction is used,” said Truong. “After the house walls are 3D printed, the roof is then built to complete the structure. Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing can then be surface mounted to the structure. The exterior design of the house can be a layering pattern due to 3D printing or finish grout can be applied to create a smooth surface indistinguishable from traditional concrete building methods.”

Equipment can be and is routinely modified by engineers developing projects for different applications.

CyBe® Robotic Arm [38]

Apis Cor Crane Printer. [40]

WASP 3D Printed Geo House [41]

“Since Mars is covered with a regolith that can be used for in-situ construction, building on Mars is also economically feasible. 3D printing is an emerging field in construction that builds concrete formwork layer by layer without the use of molds nor forms. The feedstock used in 3D printing concrete requires a mix design that uses fine particles, because the feedstock must have a viscosity and workability that is able to flow through an extrusion and dynamic pump system,” states Truong. “The concrete mix will be 3D printable based on buildable layers, flowability through the system, and low gravitational out gassing [55]. The material properties of the mix design should also be structural enough to be used as radiation shielding and resilient to brittle cracking which induces a loss of cabin pressure in order be used in the Martian environment.”

The author goes into numerous designs created for Mars habitat challenges, yielding extremely interesting results.

Team AI. SpaceFactory of New York is the second-place winner in NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge, Phase 3: Level 1 competition. [49]

Team Kahn-Yates from Jackson, Mississippi, won third place in Phase 3: Level 1 of NASA’s 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge. The team virtually designed a Mars habitat specifically suited to withstand dust storms and harsh climates on the red planet. [50]

“Research and development into the range of applications of 3D printing in construction is the beginning of a new building industry standard. The development of multistory construction will further increase market viability. While automated reinforcement, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing will increase construction speed and architectural design. The development of 3D printing thermoplastics with timber composites will make 3D printed houses competitive with suburban houses because homeowners will be able to hang picture frames and cabinets without anchoring into concrete,” concluded the author. “Prices for timber 3D printing filament is like 3D printing thermoplastics, because of the lack of an industrialized method of manufacturing the timber filament. Since the filaments are 77 made of sawdust, the filament should be able to be manufactured at a lower price. Several develops in the 3D printing construction industry will lead to the ubiquity of 3D printing construction and infrastructural changes in construction will provide an efficient method of building.”

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts! Join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com .

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The Emergence of 3D Printing

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• March 20, 2019
• Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Public Policy
• The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate 3D printing that is expected to provide a foundation for long-term and sustainable economic growth from a policy perspective. This dissertation first explores how 3D printing transforms traditional manufacturing and how it influences regional economies. It then provides a novel approach for how 3D printing invention is identified according to patent data created between 1985 and 2013 filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). From the unique dataset, this dissertation offers ample empirical evidence on the geographic diffusion of 3D printing, the key locations of inventive activity in 3D printing, the major groups of developing 3D printing, and user firms and their industrial sectors. Using the dataset, this dissertation empirically demonstrates how 3D printing diffuses across the 366 United States (U.S.) metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and how MSAs construct a competitive advantage for 3D printing of user firms. The results from two models show the role of industrial structure in the diffusion of 3D printing and the role of universities, individual inventors, and 3D printer manufacturers in establishing a competitive advantage for 3D printing. Overall, this dissertation contributes to the theoretical and empirical understanding of the process by which a region is successful in developing emerging technology by highlighting regional conditions and capability for the successful introduction of emerging technology and the importance of multiple actors for the construction of a competitive advantage.
• 3D Printing
• Technology Diffusion
• Additive Manufacturing
• Public policy
• Regional Competitive Advantage
• Economic Geography
• General Purpose Technology
• https://doi.org/10.17615/sd48-rj68
• Dissertation
• In Copyright
• Gitterman, Daniel
• Lester, T. William
• Lowe, Nichola
• Feldman, Maryann
• Moulton, Jeremy
• Doctor of Philosophy
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School

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UKnowledge > College of Engineering > Mechanical Engineering > Theses & Dissertations > 144

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

Design and process of 3d-printed parts using composite theory.

Jordan Garcia , University of Kentucky Follow

Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5328-4882

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Year of publication, degree name.

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

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Master's Thesis

Engineering

Department/School/Program

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. Y. Charles Lu

3D printing is a revolutionary manufacturing method that allows the productions of engineering parts almost directly from modeling software on a computer. With 3D printing technology, future manufacturing could become vastly efficient. However, it is observed that the procedures used in 3D printing differ substantially among the printers and from those used in conventional manufacturing. In this thesis, the mechanical properties of engineering products fabricated by 3D printing were comprehensively evaluated and then compared with those made by conventional manufacturing. Three open-source 3D printers, i.e., the Flash Forge Dreamer, the Tevo Tornado, and the Prusa, were used to fabricate the identical parts out of the same material (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene). The parts were printed at various positions on the printer platforms and then tested in bending. Results indicate that there exist substantial differences in mechanical responses among the parts by different 3D printers. Specimens from the Prusa printer exhibit the best elastic properties while specimens from the Flash Forge printer exhibit the greatest post-yield responses. There further exist noticeable variations in mechanical properties among the parts that were fabricated by the same printer. Depending on the positions that the parts were placed on a printer platform, the properties of resultant parts can vary greatly. For comparison, identical parts were fabricated using a conventional manufacturing method, i.e., compression molding. Results show that compression molded parts exhibit more robust and more homogeneous properties than those from 3D printing. During 3D printing, the machine code (e.g., the Gcode) would provide the processing instructions (the x, y, and z coordinates and the linear movements) to the printer head to construct the physical parts. Often times the default processing instructions used by commercial 3D printers may not yield the optimal mechanical properties of the parts. In the second part of this thesis, the orientation-dependent properties of 3D printed parts were examined. The multi-layered composite theory was used to design the directions of printing so that the properties of 3D printed objects can be optimized. Such method can potentially be used to design and optimize the 3D printing of complex engineering products. In the last part of this thesis, the printing process of an actual automobile A-pillar structure was designed and optimized. The finite element software (ANSYS) was used to design and optimize the filament orientations of the A-pillar. Actual parts from the proposed designs were fabricated using 3D printer and then tested. Consistent results have been observed between computational designs and experimental testing. It is recommended that the filament orientations in 3D-printing be “designed” or “tailored” by using laminate composite theory. The method would allow 3D printers to produce parts with optimal microstructure and mechanical properties to better satisfy the specific needs.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2019.418

Recommended Citation

Garcia, Jordan, "DESIGN AND PROCESS OF 3D-PRINTED PARTS USING COMPOSITE THEORY" (2019). Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering . 144. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/me_etds/144

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85 3D Printing Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best 3d printing topic ideas & essay examples, ⭐ most interesting 3d printing topics to write about.

• 💡 Good Essay Topics on 3D Printings

❓3D Printing Research Questions

• 3D Printing Industry and Market One can understand the industry of 3D technologies in terms of the software technology, the hardware and the nature of the products.
• 3D Printing in the Medical Field The key issue in the field of bioprinting remains the areas of application in medicine and the establishment of certain boundaries for this technology.
• 3D Printing Development for Fashion Industry The fashion industry was not moved or altered by 3D printing during the earlier days because most of the inventions covered the need to modify and improve the printing capability.
• UAE Government Foresight and Scenarios Program: The 3D Concrete Printing The 3D concrete printing initiative is the future of modernised, affordable, durable, and efficient means of construction for government projects across the UAE.
• 3D Printed Food and Utensils Safety The former is typically implemented in the production of simple foods and components, whereas the latter is used in combined culinary, with the implementation of both natural and printed ingredients.
• 3D Printing Technology in Medicine Notably, doctors need to learn how to use the printer in developing organs for patients in need of them. Employees need to be trained on how to use it at the workplace.
• 3D Heart Printing and Its Future Lee and Dai attributed the probability of the success of 3D technology to the materials used since they support the cellular components during and after bioprinting procedures.
• 3D Printing: Pros and Cons The authors compare the quick advancement and loss in the price of 3D printers with the rise of the personal computers.
• 3D Printer Elements and Features The objects that can be created with this printer should be at least 5x5x5 inches. These are some of the details that should be considered by the seller.
• Technology and Business: 3D Printer Impact This paper outlines the technology used for a Form 1 3D printer, as well as the impact this technology has had on business over the past ten years, the future of technology and business, the […]
• 3D Bioprinting of Physical Organs This sort of technology can be compared to the current prostatic usage and it has proven to be extremely beneficial for people.
• 3D Printing as Third Industrial Revolution Another significant advantage of 3D printing is that it leads to increased efficiency as nearly all raw material can be utilized in the manufacturing process.
• 3D Printing Industry in the UK Moreover, this research related the background of Makism 3D Corporation and the future of the 3D industry in the United Kingdom.
• Process Description: 3D Printing The material is the string-like strand of plastic coiled in the back of the printer. In turn, the movement of the print head is directed by the 3D file sent to the printer.
• 3D Bioprinting of Brown Adipose Tissue
• Additive Manufacturing: 3D Printing and the Future of Organizational Design
• Charting the Environmental Dimensions of Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing
• 3D Printing and the Future of Nursing Education
• Current Applications and Future Perspectives of the Use of 3D Printing
• Additive Manufacturing Technologies: Rapid Prototyping to Direct Digital Manufacturing
• 3D Printing and Its Effects on the World of Manufacturing
• Innovation Ecosystems Across Science, Technology, and Business: 3D Printing in China
• Financial and Funding Plan for a Biotech 3D Printing Company
• 3D Printing Food: Fiction or Reality?
• History, Future, and Applications of 3D Printing
• Limitations and Common Issues With 3D Printing
• Making Rare Materials Hands-On: 3D Printing a Possibility for Rare Materials
• Moral and Ethical Implications of 3D Printing Technology
• Nanoparticle Exposure During Processes Related to a Metal Object 3D Printing
• New Industrial Platforms and Radical Technology Foresight: 3D Printing in Europe
• 3D Printing Materials: Status, Opportunities, Market Forecasts
• Professional Skills for Information Technology for 3D Printing
• Reviewing Gun Control and 3D Printing in America
• Strategic Marketing Recommendation for the Launch of a 3D Printing Machine

💡 Good Essay Topics on 3D Printing

• Successful Business Models for 3D Printing Companies
• The Challenges and Boundaries of 3D Printing
• Overview of the Current Medical Uses of 3D Printing
• The Development and Challenge of 3D Printing
• The Different Areas and Applications of 3D Printing
• The Relationship Between Medical and Dental Industry and 3D Printing
• Biomimetic Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering: 3D Printing Techniques in Regenerative Medicine
• Tripolyphosphate-Crosslinked Chitosan & Gelatin Biocomposite Ink for 3D Printing of Uniaxial Scaffolds
• Understanding the Main Uses of 3D Printing
• The Potential Uses of 3D Printing Technology in the Modern World
• The Positive Impact of 3D Printing on Our Health and the Environment
• Why 3D Printing Service Bureaus Need to Be Automated
• The Effect of Three-Dimensional Printing on Prosthetic Limbs
• 3D Printing: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
• The Link Between 3D Printing and Bioprinting Revolutionizing Healthcare
• 3D Printing Usage to Boost Competitive Advantage of American Manufacturing
• Technology and Ecology: Inventions With 3D Printer That Will Surprise You
• Development of Direct Metal Laser Sintering Machine
• 3D Printing and Its Effects on the Economy
• Digital Printing and Its Impact on the 3D Printing Future Growth
• What Are the Positive and Negative Impacts of 3D Printing?
• How Does 3D Printing Help Society?
• Can 3D Printing Make Everything?
• What Are the Potential Uses of 3D Printing?
• Is 3D Printing Used in Business Today?
• What Could 3D Printing Be Used for in the Future?
• Does 3D Printing Use Artificial Intelligence?
• How Does 3D Printing Affect the Modern Industry?
• Who Will Benefit the Most From 3D Printing?
• How Is 3D Printing Changing the World?
• Is 3D Printing Technology Improving?
• What Problems Can 3D Printing Solve?
• Is 3D Printing the Future of Sustainable Manufacturing?
• Does 3D Printing Save Energy?
• Will 3D Printing Change the World?
• How Can 3D Printing Help the Environment?
• What Is the Use of 3D Printing in Modern Technology?
• Can 3D Printing Help the Economy?
• How Is 3D Printing Used in Medicine?
• Is 3D Printing the Future of Fashion?
• Where Is 3D Printing Used in Industry?
• How Is 3D Printing Advancing the World We Live In?
• Which Industries Use 3D Printing Most?
• Can 3D Printing Help Developing Countries?
• What Is the Future Growth of 3D Printing?
• Is 3D Printing Good for the Environment?
• What Products Are Made Using 3D Printing?
• Does the Aerospace Industry Use 3D Printing Services?
• Why Is 3D Printing Important for the Future?
• Can 3D Printing Be Used for Architecture?
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3D Printing - List of Free Essay Examples And Topic Ideas

3D Printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process of creating three-dimensional objects from a digital file. Essays on 3D printing could explore its evolution, various applications across industries like healthcare, automotive, and aerospace, and its potential to revolutionize manufacturing. Discussions could also include the environmental impact and ethical implications of 3D printing. We’ve gathered an extensive assortment of free essay samples on the topic of 3D Printing you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

The Importance of 3d Printing these Days

We board a fast world wherever everything is needed quickly then, will be} wherever 3D printing can extremely build a distinction. one amongst the massive benefits of 3D printing is that components and product will be factory-made plenty faster than they'll mistreatment ancient ways. complicated styles will be created as a CAD model then reworked into a reality in precisely some hours. This delivers style ideas during a manner that allows them to be verified quickly and designed during a […]

3D Printing and the Future of Nursing Education

With the progress in technology, the contemporary world has become much more advanced than it was even ten years ago. Thus, the existing technology now serves the population in numerous industries and areas, and its assistance makes the lives of people more convenient and simpler. Moreover, the positive impact of technological progress appears to play a vital role in the life of the entire population, as people have been using various technologies specifically in the field of healthcare for many […]

3d Printed Guns It is Constitutional

Even though this is an incredibly new technology, politicians and even presidents around the globe makers have recognized 3D printed guns and what’s behind it. Regardless of what their actual thoughts are on the topic, the laws that they have tried to put into place that obstructs the progress of the technology has risen the number of questions that deal with it. Questions such as whether or not it is constitutional to make them, distribute them or even use them. […]

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3D Printing and Bioprinting Revolutionizing Healthcare

3D bioprinting is one of the most anticipating and promising technological advancements of all time. According to the US National Library of Medicine, 3D bioprinting is "a manufacturing method in which objects are made by fusing or depositing materials? such as plastic, metal, ceramics, powders, liquids, or even living cells? in layers to produce a 3D object" (Ventola, 2014, para 2). Is With the capability of using real cells, 3D bioprinting will make it possible to create living tissue. This […]

3D Printing Yesterday Today and Tomorrow

There are a few 3D printing key terms that need to be mentioned prior to going into full detail of the subject. These terms and/or abbreviations may be mentioned throughout this project. (ABS) Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene- ABS is a thermoplastic that is the material that some 3D printers use when modeling 3D printers. On a side note some do not like using it because it gives off a foul odor from the burning of the plastic filament. Filament- Filament is […]

Virtual Reality: Game Transfer Phenomena

Imagine if you were you were floating through space, watching a horror film,s or perhaps playing a video game, and it seemed like you were actually there. With the invention of virtual reality (VR), people are able to explore the illusion of this reality. Virtual reality is computer-generated technology used to create a manufactured environment. There is a range of systems that are used for this purpose such as special headsets and fiber optic gloves. The term virtual reality means […]

Why 3D Printing Service Bureaus Needs to be Automated

According to Research and Markets forecast, 3D printing services market expected to grow to more than $13 billion from 2017 to 2022. With this rapidly increasing and overwhelming demand for 3D printing services holds enormous potential and business opportunities for 3D printing service bureaus. However, as the 3D printing market grows, employees are facing the challenge of scaling their current process, especially when quoting or delivering unmanaged services. To overcome this problem and stay on track with the competitors, many […]

3D Printing in Business

Abstract This paper explores the advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing and future implementation into the realm of business. The future of 3D printing has yet to be known and is being implemented into markets all over the world. I feel that the business industry can capitalize upon this advancement in technology and use it to its full ability. This paper will go into detail on how it's being implemented into other industries and how it will be vital to […]

The Effect of Three Dimensional Printing on Prosthetic Limbs

Most of the population takes having working limbs for granted. Around 2 million people need prosthetic limbs to function in their daily life. Patients with prosthetic limbs sometimes have problems with the prosthetic piece either not fitting them or being uncomfortable. The small steps in the prosthetic industry have made some problems go away; three-dimensional printing is a big leap in personalized prosthetics. Three-dimensional printing, a more personal and efficient way to make prosthetic limbs compared to traditional methods, is […]

3d Printing Dilenma

The case study discusses the moral issues raised about 3D printing of human organs. According to the case study, one of the moral dilemmas is the social implications of 3D printing versus its importance in improving the quality of life of human beings. The second dilemma concerns the ethics of prolonging life beyond the current life expectancy considering issues such as overpopulation that threaten the world. In the following paper, the moral dilemmas will be discussed, and solutions identified that […]

The Execution of 3-D Printing

Environmental Factors. The execution of 3-D printing in the manufacturing process could prevent some types of harmful environmental issues since its production produces nearly zero waste. Also, the capability of 3-D printing in manufacturing will decrease the harmful environmental effects which come from the transportation of goods around the world. Bringing 3-D printing into manufacturing would significantly reduce environmental damage during the shipment of goods. (Reichardt, 2014) The environment stands to gain much from the emerging technology of 3-D printing. […]

The Viability of 3D Printers as a Consumer Shopping Solution

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The Role of 3D Printing in Medical Applications: A State of the Art

1 Aid4Med S.r.l., Udine 33100, Italy

Augusto Palermo

2 Head 3 Orthopaedic Department, Istituto Auxologico Italiano IRCCS Capitanio Hospital, Milan 20122, Italy

Bernardo Innocenti

3 BEAMS Department, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles 1050, Belgium

Three-dimensional (3D) printing refers to a number of manufacturing technologies that generate a physical model from digital information. Medical 3D printing was once an ambitious pipe dream. However, time and investment made it real. Nowadays, the 3D printing technology represents a big opportunity to help pharmaceutical and medical companies to create more specific drugs, enabling a rapid production of medical implants, and changing the way that doctors and surgeons plan procedures. Patient-specific 3D-printed anatomical models are becoming increasingly useful tools in today's practice of precision medicine and for personalized treatments. In the future, 3D-printed implantable organs will probably be available, reducing the waiting lists and increasing the number of lives saved. Additive manufacturing for healthcare is still very much a work in progress, but it is already applied in many different ways in medical field that, already reeling under immense pressure with regards to optimal performance and reduced costs, will stand to gain unprecedented benefits from this good-as-gold technology. The goal of this analysis is to demonstrate by a deep research of the 3D-printing applications in medical field the usefulness and drawbacks and how powerful technology it is.

1. Introduction

Among the different manufacturing processes that are currently adopted by the industry, the 3D printing is an additive technique. It is a process through which a three-dimensional solid object, virtually of any shape, is generated starting from a digital model. Medical 3D printing was once an ambitious pipe dream. However, time and investment made it real. Nowadays, the 3D printing technology represents a big opportunity to help pharmaceutical and medical companies to create more specific drugs, enabling a rapid production of medical implants and changing the way that doctors and surgeons plan procedures [ 1 ]. This technology has multiple applications, and the fastest growing innovation in the medical field has been represented by the advent of the 3D printing itself [ 2 ]. Five technical steps are required to finalize a printed model. They include selecting the anatomical target area, the development of the 3D geometry through the processing of the medical images coming from a CT/MRI scan, the optimization of the file for the physical printing, and the appropriate selection of the 3D printer and materials ( Figure 1 ). This file represents the guidance for the subsequent printing, “slicing” that digital design model into cross sections. That “sliced” design is then sent to a 3D printer, which manufactures the object by starting at the base layer and building a series of layers on top until the object is built using the raw materials that are needed for its composition. A patient-specific model with anatomical fidelity created from imaging dataset is finally obtained.

3D-printing workflow.

In this way, the 3D printing has the potential to significantly improve the research knowledge and the skills of the new generation of surgeons, the relationship between patient and surgeon [ 3 ], increasing the level of understanding of the disease involved, and the patient-specific design of implantable devices and surgical tools [ 4 – 6 ] and optimize the surgical process and cost [ 7 ]. Nowadays, different printing techniques and material are available in order to better reproduce the patient anatomy. Most of the available printing materials are rigid and therefore not optimum for flexibility and elasticity, unlike biological tissue [ 8 ]. Therefore, there are nowadays materials able to close the gap between the real anatomy and the reproduced one, especially considering the soft tissue [ 9 , 10 ]. In this analysis, an overview of the 3D printing application in medical field is presented, highlighting the usefulness and limitations and how it could be useful for surgeons.

2. Additive Manufacturing Technologies

The 3D-printing techniques have grown in the last decades starting from 1986 when the first stereolithographic (SLA) systems were introduced in practice. Seven are the technical processes related to the 3D printing, each of which is represented by one or more commercial technologies, as shown by the ASTM International [ 11 ]. All the processes are listed in Table 1 that reported information about the technologies involved, the materials used, and the medical applications related to each process [ 12 ]. A comparison among all the seven techniques is proposed in the same table showing the advantages and disadvantages related to all the processes. Each process uses specific materials with specific properties that relate to medical applications, which are also summarized in Table 1 . This general information helps the users to better choose the right technology depending on the application needed.

Summary of the 3D-printing process and technologies, focus on materials needed and medical applications, and comparison among the 3D-printing technologies.

These technologies and the related advantages enable the researchers to improve existing medical applications that use 3D-printing technology and to explore new ones. The medical goal that has been already reached is significant and exciting, but some of the more revolutionary applications, such as bio/organ printing, require more time to evolve [ 2 ].

3. Transformation Process and Materials Used

Materials used in 3D printing are transformed during the production of the specific model by changing their consistency. This process is named cure and can be done in different ways: a melting of a hard filament in order to give the desired form to the model by the material distortion, liquid solidification for the construction of the structure and powder solidification. All these processes require filler or support material in lattice forms avoiding distortion of the model while the material is being cured. The support material can be easily removed by hand with a cutting tool; however, there is the risk to leave impression on the surface requiring an additional polishing in order to obtain a good-quality printing. The risk of damaging the model, losing details, or break the geometry is really high [ 23 ].

The correct selection of the material is directly linked to the selection of the 3D-printing process and printer, as well as the requirements of the model. Related to medical application, similarly to other applications, different anatomical structures need different mechanical properties of the materials to fulfill the required performance of the printed object [ 8 ]. The main distinction among the different materials that characterize the human body is between rigid and soft materials. Human bones are an example of rigid tissue and ligaments or articular cartilage are examples of soft materials. Bones are the simplest and easiest biological tissue to be produced by 3D printing as the majority of the materials are rigid. The materials used in 3D printing to model the bone structure are for example acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) [ 23 ], powder of plasters [ 24 ], and hydroquinone [ 8 ].

Relating to soft tissues, deeper research is still needed in order to decrease the gap between a 3D-printed anatomical model and the human structure. Most of the 3D-printing materials present a lack of realism to mimic adequately a soft human biological tissue. Thus, postprocessing may be necessary in order to soften the printed structures. Some examples are given in the reproduction of cartilaginous tissues [ 25 ], arteries for practicing valve replacement [ 26 ], hepatic segment [ 27 ], and hearts [ 28 ]. An interesting example is the development of a 3D-printed brain aneurysm using the flexible TangoPlus™ photopolymer [ 29 ] that represented a useful tool to plan the operative strategy in order to treat congenital heart disease. Furthermore, some of the materials used are urethane and rubber-like material, mixed with a rigid photopolymer, to reasonably mimic the artery structure due to their Shore value and elastic properties similar to the physiological one [ 30 , 31 ].

For a promising future, the multimaterial composites seem to represent a good chance for the 3D printing of human tissues since none of the current available material is able to fully mimic elastic and biological tissues. Multimaterial composites may be designed based on the capacity of the selected biological material to replicate the mechanical properties of human tissue [ 32 ]. Mechanical testing may represent a necessary tool to analyze the biomechanical response and validate the artificial material.

Moreover, it is also important to mention that 3D printing allows the reproduction of implantable custom device, but still deeper research needs to be done in order to examine the differences between the traditional and additive manufacturing in terms of mechanical and structural properties, especially fatigue limit needs to be examined further [ 33 ].

4. Role of 3D Printing in Medical Field

Every year, 3D printing offers more and more applications in the healthcare field helping to save and improve lives in ways never imagined up to now. In fact, the 3D printing has been used in a wide range of healthcare settings including, but not limited to cardiothoracic surgery [ 34 ], cardiology [ 26 ], gastroenterology [ 35 ], neurosurgery [ 36 ], oral and maxillofacial surgery [ 37 ], ophthalmology [ 38 ], otolaryngology [ 39 ], orthopaedic surgery [ 22 ], plastic surgery [ 40 ], podiatry [ 41 ], pulmonology [ 42 ], radiation oncology [ 43 ], transplant surgery [ 44 ], urology [ 45 ], and vascular surgery [ 46 ].

Thanks to the different benefits that this technology could induce in the field, the main direct applications of 3D printing in the medical and clinical field are as follows [ 47 ]:

• Used for personalized presurgical/treatment and for preoperative planning. This will lead to a multistep procedure that, integrating clinical and imaging information, will determine the best therapeutic option. Several studies have demonstrated that patient-specific presurgical planning may potentially reduce time spent in the operating room (OR) and result in fewer complications [ 48 , 49 ]. Moreover, this may lead to reduced postoperative stays, decreased reintervention rates, and lower healthcare costs. The 3D-printing technology allows to provide to the surgeon a physical 3D model of the desired patient anatomy that could be used to accurately plan the surgical approach along with cross-sectional imaging or, alternatively, modelling custom prosthetics (or surgical tool) based on patient-specific anatomy [ 50 – 54 ]. In this way, a better understanding of a complex anatomy unique to each case is allowed [ 52 – 56 ]. Furthermore, the 3D printing gives the possibility to choose before the implantation the size of the prostheses components with very high accuracy [ 57 – 59 ].
• Customize surgical tools and prostheses: the 3D printing can be used to manufacture custom implants or surgical guides and instruments. Therefore, the customization of surgical tools and prostheses means a reduction of cost given by the additive manufacturing technique [ 52 – 54 , 60 ].
• Study of osteoporotic conditions: following a pharmacological treatment, 3D printing is useful in validating the results achieved by the patient. This enables a more accurate estimation of patientʼs bone condition and a better decision on the surgical treatment [ 15 ].
• Testing different device in specific pathways: a clear example is the reproduction of different vascular patterns to test the effectiveness of a cardiovascular system used to treat peripheral and coronary artery disease [ 61 ]. In this way, the 3D printing enables us to quickly produce prototypes of new design concepts or improvements to existing devices.
• Improving medical education: 3D-printed patient-specific models have demonstrated that they can increase performance and foster rapid learning [ 62 ], while significantly ameliorating the knowledge, management, and confidence of the trainees regardless of the area of expertise [ 8 ]. The benefits of 3D printing in education are the reproducibility and safety of the 3D-printed model with respect to the cadaver dissection, the possibility to model different physiologic and pathologic anatomy from a huge dataset of images, and the possibility to share 3D models among different institutions, especially with ones that have fewer resources [ 63 ]. 3D printers that have the capability to print with different densities and colours can be used to accentuate the anatomical details [ 64 , 65 ].
• Patient education: patient-centered cares makes patient education one of the top priorities for most healthcare providers. However, communicating imaging reports verbally or by showing patients their CT or MRI scans may not be effective; the patients may not fully understand 2D images representation of a 3D anatomy. On the contrary, 3D printing may improve the doctor-patient communication by showing the anatomic model directly [ 66 , 67 ].
• Storage of rare cases for educational purposes: this role is closely linked to the previous one. This allows the generation of a large dataset composed by datasets of patients affected by rare pathologies, allowing the training of surgeons in specific applications [ 52 – 54 ].
• Improve the forensic practice: in the courtroom, a 3D model could be used to easily demonstrate various anatomic abnormalities that may be difficult to jury members to understand using cross-sectional imaging [ 68 ].
• Bioprinting: the 3D printing allows also the modelling of implantable tissue. Some examples are the 3D printing of synthetic skin for transplanting to patients, who suffered burn injuries [ 69 ]. It may also be used for testing of cosmetic, chemical, and pharmaceutical products. Another example is the replicating of heart valves using a combination of cells and biomaterials to control the valve's stiffness [ 26 ] or the replicating of human ears using molds filled with a gel containing bovine cartilage cells suspended in collagen [ 70 ].
• Personalized drug 3D printing: the 3D printing of drugs consists of the printing out the powdered drug layer to make it dissolve faster than average pills [ 71 ]. It allows also personalization of the patient's needed quantity [ 2 ].
• Customizing synthetic organs: the 3D printing may represent an opportunity to save life reducing the waiting list of patients that need transplantation [ 72 ]. Bioprinted organs may also be used in the future by pharmaceutical industries to replace animal models for analyzing the toxicity of new drugs [ 73 ].

Therefore, these examples clearly demonstrated that 3D printing is one of the most disruptive technologies that have the potential to change significantly the clinical field, improving medicine and healthcare, making care affordable, accessible, and personalized. As printers evolve, printing biomaterials get safety regulated and the general public acquires a common sense about how 3D printing works.

4.1. Lack of Regulation

The biomedical field is one of the areas in which 3D printing has already shown its potentialities and that, in not too distant future, may be one of the key elements for the resolution of important problems related to human health that still exist.

Nowadays, despite the additive manufacturing offers a great potential for the manufacturing, the 3D-printing products do not have a proper legal status that defines them, both for implantable and nonimplantable devices. All the 3D-printed products are categorized as custom-made device under the Regulation (EU) 2017/745 of the European Parliament and of the Council of the 5 April 2017 [ 74 ]. They are defined as follow: “ any device specifically made in accordance with a written prescription of any person authorized by national law by virtue of that person's professional qualifications which gives, under that person's responsibility, specific design characteristics, and is intended for the sole use of a particular patient exclusively to meet their individual conditions and needs ”. Differently for mass-produced devices “ which need to be adapted to meet the specific requirements of any professional user and devices which are mass-produced by means of industrial manufacturing processes in accordance with the written prescriptions of any authorized person shall not be considered to be custom-made devices ” [ 75 ]. Indeed, manufacturers of custom-made devices shall only be guaranteed by an obligation of conformity assessment procedures upon which the device shall be compliant with safety and performance requirements [ 76 ]. Furthermore, the regulation states that “ Devices, other than custom-made or investigational devices, considered to be in conformity with the requirements of this Regulation shall bear the CE marking of conformity ” [ 77 ]. Thus, these medical devices do not require affixation of CE markings: a significant and constraining procedure demonstrating the safety and the performance of the device for the patient. Moreover, the custom-made devices do not require the UDI System (Unique Device Identification system) as reported in the Article 27, Comma 1 of the regulation.

A different approach has to be applied for custom-made implants, such as dental prostheses, that are defined as “ any device, including those that are partially or wholly absorbed, which is intended :

• to be totally introduced into the human body, or
• to replace an epithelial surface or the surface of the eye,

by clinical intervention and which is intended to remain in place after the procedure.

Any device intended to be partially introduced into the human body by clinical intervention and intended to remain in place after the procedure for at least 30 days shall also be deemed to be an implantable .” [ 78 ]. The custom-made implantable devices require the CE marking in order to guarantee the safety and to be commercialized.

The EU has been working for many years on an update to the Medical Devices Directive. This proposed legislation has many noble attributes in addition to overcoming the gaps of the existing Medical Devices Directive, such as supporting technology and science innovation, while simultaneously strengthening patient safety. However, the current version of the draft Regulation lacks some depth that is mandatory to safeguard safe usage of 3D-printing technology and, thus, enable its increasing prevalence in medicine.

4.2. Examples of Application of 3D Printing in Paediatric Cases

Three-dimensional (3D) modelling and printing greatly supports advances in individualized medicine and surgery. Looking to the field of paediatrics, it is possible to identify four main applications categories: surgical planning, prostheses, tissue construct, and drug printing.

There are many successful cases that demonstrate the potential of the additive manufacturing in surgical planning in paediatric cases. In particular, most of the applications of 3D printing reported in the literature are related to the congenital heart disease [ 29 ]. This is due to the fact that children have a smaller chest cavity than adults, and the surgical treatment in paediatric cases may be much more difficult. The additive manufacturing helps the surgeons to have more information than the only ones that imaging technologies can afford. It helps the surgeon in the spatial orientation inside the cavities of a small infant heart and in simulating the surgical approach and steps of the operation with high fidelity [ 79 ]. This leads to shorter intraoperative time that per se has significant impact on complication rate, blood loss, postoperative length-of-stay, and reduced costs [ 80 ]. An example of the application of the 3D printing in the paediatric congenital heart disease treatment is a study reported in the literature based on the development of a 3D heart model of a 15-years-old boy to improve interventional simulation and planning in patient with aortic arch hypoplasia. The 3D-printed model allowed simulation of the stenting intervention. The assessment of optimal stent position, size, and length was found to be useful for the actual intervention in the patient. This represents one of the most technically challenging surgical procedures which opens the door for potential simulation applications of a 3D model in the field of catheterization and cardiovascular interventions [ 81 ].

Another study proposed in which the 3D printing had a relevant role consists in a clinical preoperative evaluation on five patients ranged from 7 months to 11 years of age affected by a double outlet right ventricle with two well-developed ventricles and with a remote ventricular septal defect. The three-dimensional printed model based on the data derived from computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance (MRI) contributed to a more complete appreciation of the intracardic anatomy, leading to a successful surgical repair for three of the five patients. [ 82 ] Lastly, CT and MRI data were used to construct 3D digital and anatomical models to plan a heart transplantation surgical procedure of two patients of 2 and 14 years old affected relatively by hypoplastic left heart syndrome and pulmonary atresia with a hypoplastic right ventricle. These physical models allowed the surgeon and the paediatric cardiologist to develop the optimal surgical treatment during the heart transplantation anticipating problems that may arise during the procedure. The specific dimensions and distances can be measured, and heart transplantation can be planned [ 83 ].

The importance of three-dimensional printing has been demonstrating also in other application. The additive manufacturing in fact has been used to plan surgical treatment of paediatric orthopaedic disorders [ 84 ]. The 3D model of a 2-year-old male child was produced in order to plan the surgical treatment for his multisutural craniosynostosis with a history of worsening cranial deformity. Other than the turribrachycephalic skull, the child also had greatly raised intracranial pressure with papilledema and copper beaten appearance of the skull. Thorough preoperative planning enabled faster surgery and decreased anesthesia time in a compromised patient [ 85 ].

Another study, based on 13 cases of multiplane spinal or pelvic deformity, was developed in order to demonstrate that the three-dimensional printing may represent a useful tool in the surgical planning of complex paediatric spinal deformities treatment [ 86 ].

Changing the final goal of the additive manufacturing, other applications cases are reported in the literature to demonstrate the usefulness in the production of paediatric patient-specific prostheses. An example in the literature is given by the development of a low-cost three-dimensional printed prosthetic hand for children with upper-limb reductions using a fitting methodology that can be performed at a distance [ 87 ]. This specific case demonstrates that the advancements in computer-aided design (CAD) programs, additive manufacturing, and imaging editing software offer the possibility of designing, printing, and fitting prosthetic hands devices overcoming the costs limitation. As a consequence, the advantages of 3D-printed implants over conventional ones are in terms of customizability and cost as seems to be clear from the previous example. On the contrary, the major adversity is related to the rapid physical growth that makes the customize prostheses outsized frequently. This leads to the production of advanced technological implant that, due to their high complexity and weight, increases cost. The additive manufacturing can be used to fabricate rugged, light-weight, easily replaceable, and very low-cost prostheses for children [ 88 ]. The major prostheses lack is related to the ability to communicate with the brain in terms of sensibility. With the advent of bioprinting, cellular prostheses could be an interesting area of research, which can lead to integrated prostheses in the brain communication system, and exhibit more biomimicry with tissue and organ functionalities [ 89 ].

Related to bioprinting, there are few applications nowadays involved in the tissues production in regenerative medicine. Many different tissues have been successfully bioprinted as reported in many journal articles [ 90 ] including bone, cartilage, skin, and even heart valves. However, the bioprinted tissues and organs are at the laboratory level; a long way needs to be travelled to achieve successful clinical application [ 91 ].

Last but not the least, the additive manufacturing in terms of drug printing may also represent an innovative technique in the production of patient-specific medicine with regard to the composition and the dose needed by the patients. The drug-printing introduces the concept of tailor-made drugs in order to make drugs safer and more effective. Especially for children, furthermore, drug-printing represents the possibility of choosing colour, shape, and design of the medication, reducing the resistance in taking them. Imagine a paediatrician talking to a four-year-old child who is having trouble adjusting to taking daily doses of steroids after being diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy the previous month. 3D printing allows us to design in particular shape the drug, making medicine more appealing to the child [ 92 ]. It is amental to note that changing the shape of a capsule does not have to lead to different dose and drug properties, such as drug release or dissolution rate [ 93 ].

5. Conclusions

The 3D printing in medical field and design needs to think outside the norm for changing the health care. The three main pillars of this new technology are the ability to treat more people where it previously was not feasible, to obtain outcomes for patients and less time required under the direct case of medical specialists. In few words, 3D printing consists in “enabling doctors to treat more patients, without sacrificing results” [ 94 ].

Therefore, like any new technology, 3D printing has introduced many advantages and possibilities in the medical field. Each specific case in which 3D printing has found application shown in this analysis is a demonstration of this. However, it must be accompanied by an updated and current legislation in order to guarantee its correct use.

Acknowledgments

The publication of the article was funded through the collaboration between Aid4Med S.r.l. and the Universitè Libre de Bruxelles.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.

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STUDY, DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF A 3D PRINTER A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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• Published: 18 August 2020

3D bioprinting of cells, tissues and organs

• Madhuri Dey   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9523-8083 1 , 2 &
• Ibrahim T. Ozbolat 2 , 3 , 4 , 5  

Scientific Reports volume  10 , Article number:  14023 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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• Experimental models of disease
• Regeneration
• Tissue engineering

3D bioprinting has emerged as a promising new approach for fabricating complex biological constructs in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. It aims to alleviate the hurdles of conventional tissue engineering methods by precise and controlled layer-by-layer assembly of biomaterials in a desired 3D pattern. The 3D bioprinting of cells, tissues, and organs Collection at Scientific Reports brings together a myriad of studies portraying the capabilities of different bioprinting modalities. This Collection amalgamates research aimed at 3D bioprinting organs for fulfilling demands of organ shortage, cell patterning for better tissue fabrication, and building better disease models.

The discovery of a 3D printer dates back to early 1980s when Charles Hull, an American engineer, built the 1st 3D printer, capable of creating solid objects by following a computer-aided design (CAD). The printer deposited successive layers of an acrylic-based photopolymer which was then simultaneously crosslinked by UV light, thus creating a solid 3D object. This simple technology, called stereolithography (SLA), revolutionized the additive manufacturing industry. Gradually, by the late 1990s, 3D printing made its appearance in healthcare where surgeons began 3D printing dental implants, custom prosthetics, and kidney bladders. Subsequently the term ‘3D bioprinting’ emerged where the material being printed, called ‘bioink’ 1 , consisted of living cells, biomaterials, or active biomolecules. Analogous to additive manufacturing, 3D bioprinting involves layer-by-layer deposition of bioink to create 3D structures, such as tissues and organs 2 .

3D bioprinting can be broadly categorized as either extrusion 3 , droplet 4 , or laser-based bioprinting. Extrusion based bioprinting employs mechanical, pneumatic or solenoid dispenser systems to deposit bioinks in a continuous form of filaments, while droplet based bioprinting relies on the generation of bioink droplets by thermal, acoustic or electrical stimulation. Laser based bioprinting utilizes laser power to 3D print structures such as in SLA by a photopolymerization principle. It can also be used for precise positioning of cells such as in laser direct-write and Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT). The selection of “bioinks” for each of these different bioprinting modalities usually varies based on the ink’s rheology, viscosity, crosslinking chemistry, and biocompatibility. Extrusion based bioprinting primarily requires shear thinning bioinks while droplet or inkjet bioprinting needs materials with low viscosity. Over the past few years, the design and synthesis of bioinks has evolved to meet the increasing needs of new bioprintable materials. Significant advancements have also been made to integrate secondary techniques accompanying the above-mentioned modalities of bioprinting. For example, creating 3D structures with low viscosity bioinks has always been a challenge. To overcome this issue, such bioinks can now be extruded in a granular support bath containing yield stress hydrogels which solidify around the extruded structure and prevent it from collapsing 5 . Apart from organ printing, bioprinting is also being used to fabricate in-vitro tissue models for drug screening, disease modelling, and several other in-vitro applications.

The 3D bioprinting of cells, tissues and organs Collection at Scientific Reports is dedicated to this field of research. This collection clearly portrays the diverse applications of different bioprinting modalities and how they could be utilized for improving various aspects of healthcare. Kim et al. 3D printed a novel two-layered polycaprolactone (PCL) -based tubular tracheal graft 6 . This tracheal graft, seeded with induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) -derived mesenchymal (MSCs) and chondrocyte stem cells supported the regeneration of tracheal mucosa and cartilage in a rabbit model of a segmental tracheal defect. Galarraga et al. used a norbornene-modified hyaluronic acid (NorHA) macromer as a representative bioink for cartilage tissue engineering 7 . Printed structures containing MSCs, on long term culture, not only led to an increase in compressive moduli, but also expressed biochemical content similar to native cartilage tissue. Vidal et al. used 3D printed customized calcium phosphate scaffolds with and without a vascular pedicle to treat large bone defects in sheep 8 . They used CT angioscan to scan the entire defect site and subsequently 3D print a personalized scaffold to anatomically fit the defect site. A bioink comprising decellularized matrix from mucosal and muscular layers of native esophageal tissues was used by Nam et al. to mimic the microenvironment of native esophagus 9 . Leucht et al. used gelatin based bioinks to study vasculogenesis in a bone-like microenvironment 10 . Kilian et al. used a calcium phosphate cement (CPC) and an alginate-methylcellulose based bioink containing primary chondrocytes to mimic the different layers of osteochondral tissue 11 .

This special issue also contains three notable research articles on the patterning of cells—two utilizing acoustics, and one, magnetism. Even though bioprinting enables the homogenous distribution of cells representing the macro-architectural properties, it lacks control of the tissue micro-architecture such as orientation of cells within the bioprinted constructs. Chansoria and Shirwaiker delved deep into the physics of ultrasound-assisted bioprinting (UAB) that utilizes the acoustophoresis principle to align MG63 cells within single and multi-layered extrusion-bioprinted alginate constructs 12 . Cells were aligned both orthogonally and in parallel to the printed filaments, thus mimicking cellular anisotropy in tissues such as ligaments, tendons, and cardiac muscle. Similarly, Sriphutkiat et al. used acoustic excitation to align skeletal myoblast cells (C2C12) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) encapsulated in methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) bioink 13 . Goranov et al. magnetically labelled MSCs and HUVECs, and aligned them in a magnetic scaffold to mimic vascularization of bone constructs 14 .

It is important to note that the applications of 3D bioprinting are not limited to organ printing. It also holds great promise in less explored avenues, such as using scaffolds for drug delivery, studying disease mechanisms, or creating personalized medicines. In this Collection, Lee et al. 3D printed a rifampicin loaded PCL scaffold for possible treatment of osteomyelitis 15 . Xu and coworkers 3D printed paracetamol containing PVA tablets with three different geometries, each demonstrating different release profiles which could be tailored based on the patient's needs 16 . Further, Foresti et al. applied 5D additive manufacturing techniques to create personalized models of patients’ pathology 17 . Ding, Illsley and Chang 3D bioprinted GelMA-based models to investigate the trophoblast cell invasion phenomenon, enabling studies of key placental functions 18 .

Additionally, there are other notable articles in this Collection enumerating different aspects of bioprinting. Afghah et al. used a Pluronic-nanoclay based composite support bath to bioprint representative structures, for complex and hollow tissues, using cell laden alginate hydrogel 19 . Zhao et al. developed a 3D printed hanging drop dripper system for analyzing tumor spheroids in-situ 20 . Yumoto et al. performed RNA-seq analysis on inkjet-printed cells to analyze the effect of bioprinting on gene expression 21 . We would like to extend our utmost gratitude and thank all the authors and reviewers who devoted their time and effort towards this 3D bioprinting collection.

Even though 3D bioprinting is advancing at a commendable rate with researchers trying to develop new printing modalities as well as improve existing modalities, there still remains a multitude of challenges that need to be overcome. Currently, a limited number of bioinks exist which are both bioprintable and which accurately represent the tissue architecture needed to restore organ function post-printing. While bioinks made from naturally derived hydrogels are conducive to cell growth, synthetic hydrogels are mechanically robust. Thus, hybrid bioinks should be designed to amalgamate all these aspects. Moreover, the bioprinting process itself needs to be more cell-friendly. Shear stress applied to the cells during the printing process are detrimental to cell growth and might even alter the gene expression profiles. Stem cells, such as iPSCs, are sensitive to such physical forces and usually do not survive the printing process. As stem cell studies have mostly been performed on 2D environments, there exists a lot of unknowns for a 3D stem cell culture. Effective techniques need to be developed for high throughput generation and bioprinting of organoids 22 for personalized drug testing and predictive disease models. Additionally, vascularization of bioprinted constructs for proper nutrient exchange, as well as integration of printed vasculature with host vasculature post organ implantation, is another major obstacle. Overall, 3D bioprinting is a rapidly evolving field of research with immense challenges, but tremendous potential to revolutionize modern medicine and healthcare.

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Gudapati, H., Dey, M. & Ozbolat, I. A comprehensive review on droplet-based bioprinting: past, present and future. Biomaterials 102 , 20–42 (2016).

Heo, D. N. et al. 3D bioprinting of carbohydrazide-modified gelatin into microparticle-suspended oxidized alginate for the fabrication of complex-shaped tissue constructs. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 12 , 20295–20306 (2020).

Kim, I. G. et al. Transplantation of a 3D-printed tracheal graft combined with iPS cell-derived MSCs and chondrocytes. Sci. Rep. 10 , 1–14 (2020).

Galarraga, J. H., Kwon, M. Y. & Burdick, J. A. 3D bioprinting via an in situ crosslinking technique towards engineering cartilage tissue. Sci. Rep. 9 , 1–12 (2019).

Vidal, L. et al. Regeneration of segmental defects in metatarsus of sheep with vascularized and customized 3D-printed calcium phosphate scaffolds. Sci. Rep. 10 , 1–11 (2020).

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Nam, H. et al. Multi-layered free-form 3D cell-printed tubular construct with decellularized inner and outer esophageal tissue-derived bioinks. Sci. Rep. 10 , 1–14 (2020).

Leucht, A., Volz, A. C., Rogal, J., Borchers, K. & Kluger, P. J. Advanced gelatin-based vascularization bioinks for extrusion-based bioprinting of vascularized bone equivalents. Sci. Rep. 10 , 1–15 (2020).

Kilian, D. et al. 3D Bioprinting of osteochondral tissue substitutes-in vitro-chondrogenesis in multi-layered mineralized constructs. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65050-9 (2020).

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Sriphutkiat, Y., Kasetsirikul, S., Ketpun, D. & Zhou, Y. Cell alignment and accumulation using acoustic nozzle for bioprinting. Sci. Rep. 9 , 1–12 (2019).

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Goranov, V. et al. 3D patterning of cells+in magnetic scaffolds for tissue engineering. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-58738-5 (2020).

Lee, J. H. et al. Development of a heat labile antibiotic eluting 3D printed scaffold for the treatment of osteomyelitis. Sci. Rep. 10 , 1–8 (2020).

Xu, X., Zhao, J., Wang, M., Wang, L. & Yang, J. 3D printed polyvinyl alcohol tablets with multiple release profiles. Sci. Rep. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-48921-8 (2019).

Foresti, R. et al. In-vivo vascular application via ultra-fast bioprinting for future 5D personalised nanomedicine. Sci. Rep. 10 , 3205 (2020).

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Ding, H., Illsley, N. P. & Chang, R. C. 3D bioprinted GelMA based models for the study of trophoblast cell invasion. Sci. Rep. 9 , 1–13 (2019).

Afghah, F., Altunbek, M., Dikyol, C. & Koc, B. Preparation and characterization of nanoclay-hydrogel composite support-bath for bioprinting of complex structures. Sci. Rep. 10 , 1–13 (2020).

Zhao, L. et al. A 3D printed hanging drop dripper for tumor spheroids analysis without recovery. Sci. Rep. 9 , 1–14 (2019).

Yumoto, M. et al. Evaluation of the effects of cell-dispensing using an inkjet-based bioprinter on cell integrity by RNA-seq analysis. Sci. Rep. 10 , 1–10 (2020).

Ayan, B. et al. Aspiration-assisted bioprinting for precise positioning of biologics. Sci. Adv. 6 , eaaw5111 (2020).

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Department of Chemistry, Penn State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

Madhuri Dey

The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

Madhuri Dey & Ibrahim T. Ozbolat

Engineering Science and Mechanics Department, Penn State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

Ibrahim T. Ozbolat

Biomedical Engineering Department, Penn State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

Materials Research Institute, Penn State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

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M.D. wrote the manuscript. I.T.O. reviewed and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ibrahim T. Ozbolat .

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Dey, M., Ozbolat, I.T. 3D bioprinting of cells, tissues and organs. Sci Rep 10 , 14023 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70086-y

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