Laser-induced forward transfer based laser bioprinting in biomedical applications

Abstract

Bioprinting is an emerging field that utilizes 3D printing technology to fabricate intricate biological structures, including tissues and organs. Among the various promising bioprinting techniques, laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) stands out by employing a laser to precisely transfer cells or bioinks onto a substrate, enabling the creation of complex 3D architectures with characteristics of high printing precision, enhanced cell viability, and excellent technical adaptability. This technology has found extensive applications in the production of biomolecular microarrays and biological structures, demonstrating significant potential in tissue engineering. This review briefly introduces the experimental setup, bioink ejection mechanisms, and parameters relevant to LIFT bioprinting. Furthermore, it presents a detailed summary of both conventional and cutting-edge applications of LIFT in fabricating biomolecule microarrays and various tissues, such as skin, blood vessels and bone. Additionally, the review addresses the existing challenges in this field and provides corresponding suggestions. By contributing to the ongoing development of this field, this review aims to inspire further research on the utilization of LIFT-based bioprinting in biomedical applications.

Droplet bioprinting of acellular and cell-laden structures at high-resolutions

“…However, current vat-based bioprinters face many challenges such as low fidelity printing with soft bioinks, low cell viability, large waste and high costs due to the requirement of filling the vat with expensive bioinks even for small size prints, print defects due to gravity-based cell settling and/or changes in bioink properties during printing. [11,14,23,26] Here we report a vat-free, droplet bioprinting method that can print acellular and cell-laden constructs with minimal waste. The up-and-down motion during printing allows for efficient mixing of the cell-laden inks to generate constructs with uniform cell density with over 90% viability.…”