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Introduction
Published in Rafiq Noorani, 3D Printing, 2017
Tissue or organ failure due to many factors is a critical medical problem. Current medical treatment for organ failure relies mostly on organ transplants. However, there is a large shortage of human organs available for transplants. Additional problem with organ transplantation is that it is difficult to find a good tissue match. Therapies based on tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are being pursued as a potential solution to the organ donor shortage. Although still very much in its infancy, 3D bioprinting offers important advantages beyond the traditional regenerative method. Organ printing takes advantage of 3DP technology to produce cells, biomaterials, and cell-laden biomaterials individually or in tandem, layer by layer, directly creating 3D tissue-like structures. Various materials are available to build the scaffolds, depending on the desired strength, porosity, and type of tissue, with hydrogels usually considered as the most suitable for producing soft tissues.
Biological-Derived Biomaterials for Stem Cell Culture and Differentiation
Published in Gilson Khang, Handbook of Intelligent Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, 2017
Organ transplantation in an orthotopic location is the current treatment for end-stage organ failure. However, the need for transplantable organs far exceeds the number of available donor organs. As a result, new options, such as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, have been explored to achieve functional organ replacement. Although there have been many advances in the laboratory leading to the reconstruction of tissue and organ structures in vitro, these efforts have fallen short of producing organs that contain intact vascular networks capable of nutrient and gas exchange and are suitable for transplantation. Recently, advances in whole-organ decellularization techniques have enabled the fabrication of scaffolds for engineering new organs. These scaffolds, consisting of naturally derived ECM, provide biological signals and maintain tissue microarchitecture, including intact vascular systems that could integrate into the recipient’s circulatory system. The decellularization techniques have led to the development of scaffolds for multiple organs, including the heart, liver, lung, and kidney. While the experimental studies involving the use of decellularized organ scaffolds are encouraging, the translation of whole-organ engineering into the clinic is still distant. This paper reviews recently described techniques used to decellularize whole organs such as the heart, lung, liver, and kidney and describes possible methods for using these matrices for whole-organ engineering.
Biomedical Applications of 3D Printing
Published in Jince Thomas, Sabu Thomas, Nandakumar Kalarikkal, Jiya Jose, Nanoparticles in Polymer Systems for Biomedical Applications, 2019
M. S. Neelakandan, V. K. Yadu Nath, Bilahari Aryat, Parvathy Prasad, Sunija Sukumaran, Jiya Jose, Sabu Thomas, Nandakumar Kalarikkal
Organ and tissue failures from birth complications, ageing, diseases, and accidents are common medical problems.87 Nowadays, treatments for organ failure rely mostly on organ transplants from both living and deceased donors. The problem is that there is a chronic shortage viable donor available for transplant. In 2009, 154,324 patients in America were waiting for an organ. Only 18% of them received an organ transplant, and an average of 25 persons died per day, while they were on the waiting list. Also, the cost of organ transplant surgery and follow-up is also expensive. The additional problem is that organ transplantation involves the often difficult task of finding a viable donor.1 This problem can be eliminated by using cells taken from the patient’s own body to build a replacement organ,88 minimizing the risk of tissue rejection, as well as the need to take lifelong immunosuppressant drugs. Lately, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are being pursued as a solution for the organ donor shortage for the near future. Adding to this, 3D bioprinting offers additional advantages beyond the traditional regenerative methods (which provide scaffold support alone), such as the precise cell placement and control over speed, resolution, cell concentration, drop volume, and diameter of printed cells. Organ printing is used to produce cells, biomaterials, and cell-laden biomaterials separately or in tandem, layer by layer, creating 3D tissue-like structures. Although hydrogels are usually considered to be most suitable for producing soft tissues, various other materials are also used to build the scaffolds, depending on desired strength, porosity, and type of tissue.92
Biocompatibility of subcutaneously implanted marine macromolecules cross-linked bio-composite scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering applications
Published in Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition, 2018
A. S. Sumayya, G. Muraleedhara Kurup
Articular cartilage has limited regenerative capacity due to the lack of vascularization of the native tissue and the limited proliferative ability of chondrocytes. An alternative therapy for the repair of damaged articular cartilage resides in the tissue engineering approach [1]. Tissue engineering is a helpful alternative field that focused on the principles of biological, chemical, and engineering sciences to the solution of serious medical troubles, as tissue loss and organ failure. The aim of this field is to transcend the drawbacks of conventional therapies stand on organ or tissue transplantation, heal diseased tissue and maintain the renovation of diseased or offended organs [2]. Scaffolds derived from natural polysaccharides play a role similar to the extracellular matrix (ECM) in natural tissues, supporting cell attachment, proliferation and differentiation. The development of composite scaffolds by combining multiple polysaccharides with different properties may provide unique characteristics to promote the repair and regeneration of cartilage tissue. The architectural design of scaffolds may create an environment that can preserve the normal phenotype of cells to promote regeneration of cartilage-like constructs [3]. For the engineering of cartilage, the scaffold material must meet specific requirements, like: (1) allowing bone binding at the bony side of the chondral defect; (2) being water-swellable to facilitate lubrication and vibration reduction; (3) permitting the ingrowth of cartilage (nontoxic, biocompatible, and porous); and (4) showing degradation during time, while being replaced with cartilage [4].
Deep learning for fabrication and maturation of 3D bioprinted tissues and organs
Published in Virtual and Physical Prototyping, 2020
Wei Long Ng, Alvin Chan, Yew Soon Ong, Chee Kai Chua
The existing treatment for organ failure depends on living or deceased donors for organ transplantation. Over the last three decades, there is an increasing demand for organ donors due to the increasing number of patients with organ failures. The organ recipients with successful transplantation would need constant immunosuppressant drugs to mitigate potential rejection of acute and chronic graft, whereas numerous patients have died while waiting for suitable organ transplantation due to a lack of suitable donors. A potential solution to this problem is to fabricate patient-specific 3D tissue-engineered construct using autologous cells (Ravnic et al. 2017) to reduce the probability of tissue/organ rejection.