Three-Dimensional Digital Light-Processing Bioprinting Using Silk Fibroin-Based Bio-Ink: Recent Advancements in Biomedical Applications

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting has been developed as a viable method for fabricating functional tissues and organs by precisely spatially arranging biomaterials, cells, and biochemical components in a layer-by-layer fashion. Among the various bioprinting strategies, digital light-processing (DLP) printing has gained enormous attention due to its applications in tissue engineering and biomedical fields. It allows for high spatial resolution and the rapid printing of complex structures. Although bio-ink is a critical aspect of 3D bioprinting, only a few bio-inks have been used for DLP bioprinting in contrast to the number of bio-inks employed for other bioprinters. Recently, silk fibroin (SF), as a natural bio-ink material used for DLP 3D bioprinting, has gained extensive attention with respect to biomedical applications due to its biocompatibility and mechanical properties. This review introduces DLP-based 3D bioprinting, its related technology, and the fabrication process of silk fibroin-based bio-ink. Then, we summarize the applications of DLP 3D bioprinting based on SF-based bio-ink in the tissue engineering and biomedical fields. We also discuss the current limitations and future perspectives of DLP 3D bioprinting using SF-based bio-ink.

Tendon stem cells seeded on dynamic chondroitin sulfate and chitosan hydrogel scaffold with BMP2 enhance tendon-to-bone healing

“…Because growth factors cannot effectively act at the tendon-to-bone interface alone, they are often loaded on various biomaterials. At present, the research of biomaterials is mainly based on synthetic scaffolds such as poly-glycolic-acid and poly-L-lactic-acid [ 16 , 17 ], and natural scaffolds such as silk and collagen [ [ 18 , 19 ]], both of them having their own advantages and disadvantages. Compared with synthetic scaffolds, natural scaffolds contain a lot of biological information, and some specific amino acid sequences can interact with cells [ 20 , 21 ].…”

Exploiting the network architecture of thiol–ene photo-crosslinked poly(ε-caprolactone) towards tailorable materials for light-based 3D-printing

“…The resulting Computer-Aided Design/Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAD/CAM) mimicry is significantly improved as compared to deposition-based 3D-printing (e.g., extrusion). 10,19,[40][41][42][43] DLP is of particular interest since each layer is printed simultaneously, thereby strongly reducing the manufacturing time and as a consequence, increasing the cost efficiency of the technique. In DLP, the resolution depends on the material properties such as the cure depth and photo-crosslinking kinetics and can be as low as 25 µm.…”

Recent progress in the development of conductive hydrogels and the application in 3D printed wearable sensors

“…Due to its similar basic principles to SLA technology, this technology can also be well combined with photocurable hydrogels. 168,169 By combining a conductive hydrogel with DLP 3D printing technology, it is possible to achieve the rapid fabrication of complex-shaped conductive structures, providing new possibilities for the preparation of flexible sensors, biosensors and other applications. For example, Guo et al 170 utilized DLP technology to fabricate a biodegradable poly(ACMO)/Pt hydrogel sensor with electronic conductivity.…”