3D Printing Technology of Polymer Composites and Hydrogels for Artificial Skin Tissue Implementations

TLDR: The combination of polymer composites, hydrogels and 3D printing contributes in acquiring a new, efficient, cost-effective and enhanced biocompatible biological organ.

Abstract: Today, the need for tissue and organ transplant has occupied the centre stage in the field of biomedical engineering. The requirement and the replacement ratio increase drastically where the supply was not met by the demand due to the lack of donors, poor biocompatibility of tissues from donors that boycotts the transplant itself. On the other hand, from the advancement in technology, it is possible to replace natural tissues with some polymeric hydrogels whose mechanical behaviour and biocompatibility resembles the natural tissues. Additionally, hydrogels are one of the effective materials that offer an aqua environment with enriched oxygen and nutrition content that a biological cell needs. Further, three-dimensional (3D) printing, a manufacturing technique where the biomedical organs are fussed with materials such as plastic, ceramics, liquids, powder, living cell etc. in such a way that it provides a 3D object in the micron-scale resolution. Therefore, the combination of polymer composites, hydrogels and 3D printing has its application in skin bioprinting and tissue engineering. Thus, it contributes in acquiring a new, efficient, cost-effective and enhanced biocompatible biological organ.