3D printed wound constructs for skin tissue engineering: A systematic review in experimental animal models

Abstract

Wound dressings are one of the most used treatments for chronic wounds. Moreover, 3D printing has been emerging as a promising strategy for printing 3D printed wound constructs, being able of manufacturing multi layers, with a solid 3D structure. Although all these promising effects of 3D printed wound constructs, there is still few studies and limited understanding of the interaction of these dressings with skin tissue and their effect on the process of skin wound healing. In this context, the aim of this work was to perform a systematic review of the literature to examine the effects of 3D printed wound constructs on the process of skin wound healing in animal models. The articles were selected from three databases following Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) descriptors “3D printing,” “skin,” “wound,” and “in vivo.” After the selection, exclusion and inclusion criteria, nine articles were analyzed. This review confirms the significant benefits of using 3D printed wound constructs for skin repair and regeneration. All the used inks demonstrated the ability of mimicking the structure of skin tissue and promoting cell adhesion, proliferation, migration, and mobility. Furthermore, in vivo findings showed full wound closure in most of the studies, with well‐organized dermal and epidermal layers.

Biomaterials Adapted to Vat Photopolymerization in 3D Printing: Characteristics and Medical Applications

“…On the one hand, a constant need for prostheses or substituents of different parts of the body in the fields of dentistry, orthopedics, and general or oral and maxillofacial surgery has resulted in the building of cheaper, faster, more precise, personalized replacement constructs that significantly improve patient outcomes and quality of life [10][11][12]. On the other hand, 3D printing brings advantages to tissue engineering, an emerging technology aimed at overcoming limitations in organ and tissue transplantation [13,14]. Bone scaffolds for tissue engineering have been developed using various methods, such as the Fused Deposition Material technique-which can facilitate optimal mechanical properties-or the use of magnetic scaffolds, therefore allowing for the placement and orientation of cells in a biological setting [15][16][17].…”