3D Printing in Suspension Baths: Keeping the Promises of Bioprinting Afloat

Over the last several years, the emphasis within the 3D bio-printing field has been to pattern a tissue analogue, which integrates parenchyma, stroma and endothelium, into a monolithic, thick tissue. To date, there has been multiple attempts -employing extrusion-based 3D printing technologies to pattern cell-laden bioinks- which have yielded thin tissues. Cell-death in thicker tissues (>1cm) is common due to difficulty in constructing a vascular network which extends throughout the tissue analogue. Limitations of conventional extrusion-based strategies, such as gravitational forces that contribute to collapse of a structure, have prevented bioinks which innately have weak mechanical properties, from being 3D printed. 3D printing in suspension media is an emerging extrusion-based strategy, which addresses the aforementioned limitations and is anticipated to transform the current 3D bio-printing landscape. This talk will discuss both the underlying concepts of this novel printing strategy and how printing in suspension media can be leveraged on the road towards engineering a sufficiently perfused 3D tissue construct.