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Table 4 Potential future benefits and challenges of combining regenerative medicine with additive manufacturing

From: Combining regenerative medicine strategies to provide durable reconstructive options: auricular cartilage tissue engineering

 

Feature

Benefits

Challenges

Bioprinting

Control over macrostructure and microstructure of tissue produced

Replicate anatomical form

Reduce surgical technique learning curve

Biomechanical properties of bioinks

Effect of printing on cells

Printing resolution

 

Patient-specific macrostructure from image acquisition (CT/MRI)

Reduce variability in surgical outcomes

Macrostructure may alter during bioreactor maturation

 

Manufacture ex vivo

Avoid donor site morbidity

Reduce operating time

Potential for contamination

Regulatory constraints

Regenerative medicine

Tissue-specific stem cells to improve quality and functionality of engineered tissue

True ‘like for like’ replacement

Restoring native anisotropy allows improved matching of mechanical properties

Genetic stability and differentiation capacity of cells after prolonged expansion in culture

 

Tissue maturation utilizing growth factors

Reduce degradation and constriction

Optimal growth factor combinations and temporal effects

  1. CT computed tomography, MRI magnetic resonance imaging