Characters and progress of three-dimensional printing technology in bone tissue engineering

Wu Cheng-cong; Wang Fang; Rong Shu; Wu Zheng; Liu Tao; Liu Ke-ting; Zhu Bo; Huang He-fei

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.2017.15.022

Abstract：BACKGROUND: Individual three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds can be constructed by 3D printing via Computer Aided Design based on the given anatomical measurements of related tissues. A rapid and accurate reconstruction of bone, cartilage, muscle and vessel also can be achieved by 3D printing; however, many problems still remain unsolved.OBJECTIVE: To summarize the principle and classification of 3D printing, the classification, characteristics and histocompatibility of scaffolds through reviewing the articles addressing 3D printing applied in bone tissue engineering,thereby providing theoretical foundation for the study on the construction of tissue-engineered bone.METHODS: PubMed and CNKI databases were retrieved for the literatures regarding the application of 3D printing technology in bone tissue engineering published from January 2001 to January 2017 using the keywords of "three-dimensional printing, rapid prototyping manufacturing, bone tissue engineering" in English and Chinese,respectively. Finally, 30 articles were reviewed and discussed in accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The microstructures of normal tissues can be reconstructed and seed cells are printed on the 3D scaffolds synchronously by 3D printing technology. Moreover, the scaffold degradation and cell differentiation are synchronous, which contributes to tissue repair. Biological ceramics have been widely used in bone tissue engineering because of its good biocompatibility and mechanical properties. However, the urgent problems such as angiogenesis and cellular signal transduction still need to be addressed.