Bioprinting on Organ-on-Chip: Development and Applications

Abstract

Organs-on-chips (OoCs) are microfluidic devices that contain bioengineered tissues or parts of natural tissues or organs and can mimic the crucial structures and functions of living organisms. They are designed to control and maintain the cell- and tissue-specific microenvironment while also providing detailed feedback about the activities that are taking place. Bioprinting is an emerging technology for constructing artificial tissues or organ constructs by combining state-of-the-art 3D printing methods with biomaterials. The utilization of 3D bioprinting and cells patterning in OoC technologies reinforces the creation of more complex structures that can imitate the functions of a living organism in a more precise way. Here, we summarize the current 3D bioprinting techniques and we focus on the advantages of 3D bioprinting compared to traditional cell seeding in addition to the methods, materials, and applications of 3D bioprinting in the development of OoC microsystems.

Keywords

• organ-on-chip
• 3D bioprinting
• biofabrication
• cell patterning
• microfluidics