There is a rising demand for replacement, regeneration of tissues and organ repairs for patients who suffer from diseased/damaged bones or tissues such as hip pains. The hip replacement treatment relies on the implant, which may not always meet the requirements due to mechanical and biocompatibility issues which in turn may aggravate the pain. To surpass these limitations, researchers are investigating the use of scaffolds as another approach for implants. Three-dimensional (3D) printing offers significant potential as an efficient fabrication technique on personalized organs as it is capable of biomimicking the intricate designs found in nature. In this review, the determining factors for hip replacement and the different fabrication techniques such as direct 3D printing, Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and stereolithography (SLA) for hip replacement. The study also covers surface modifications of 3D printed implants and provides an overview on 3D tissue regeneration. To appreciate the current conventional hip replacement practices, the conventional metallic and ceramic materials are covered, highlighting their rationale as the material of choice. Next, the challenges, ethics and trends in the implants’ 3D printing are covered and conclusions drawn. The outlook and challenges are also presented here. The knowledge from this review indicates that 3D printing has enormous potential for providing a pathway for a sustainable hip replacement.

There is a current need for tissue and organ repairs, replacement, and regeneration for patients who suffer from diseased or damaged tissues or organs. This situation is continuously on the rise and the supply of this form of therapy does not meet the patients demand mostly due to lack of donors and biocompatibility issues which causes immune system rejection of the implants. To succeed through these limitations, researchers are currently investigating the use of scaffolds as another approach for implants. The conventional scaffold fabrication technique is limited due to the precision of pore design. The 3D printing technology on the other side can produce an extracellular matrix with a higher degree of complexity and matching details such as pore size and geometry suitably based on certain factors including tissue engineering, hip biomechanism, material suitability, ethical standards, future, and challenges. This paper in particular focuses on materials challenges and opportunities addressing various issues at various levels to the materials-process-property relationship. It is comprehensive as it starts with hip biomechanism in gait and stress distribution to give the reader a clear perspective of the magnitude of challenges for hip implants and details to consider when designing the materials. This is followed by 3D printing for orthopaedic applications and 3D hip tissue regeneration. The hip replacement materials including polymers, composites, and metals are explored and correlated to conventional hip replacement materials. The work is concluded with some concluding remarks on opportunities, challenges, and future trends. The goal is to have scaffolds that have the capability of having a biomimicking design similar to the extracellular matrix with the advantage being the provision of structural supports for cell attachment, growth, and differentiation with the main goal of producing an operational organ or tissue. The knowledge derived from this review offers huge potential for providing a pathway for sustainable healing.