Advanced Bioink Materials for Tissue Engineering Applications

Purpose of Review Global demand for organ transplantation or tissue regeneration is constantly increasing. Advances in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine have made it possible to use 3D bioprinting to regenerate such damaged organs and tissues into functional organs and tissues. The main component of 3D bioprinting is bioink, which is essential for the development of functional organs and tissue structures. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of bioink in context to used materials and methodology to construct bioink and its applications in bioprinting. Recent Findings The bioinks used in 3D printing technology have to possess some essential properties like biocompatibility, printability and shape fidelity, which are important and should be considered when choosing an appropriate bioink. A variety of natural, synthetic or combination of these have been used for the production of bioink. Summary This review provides an overview of bioinks used in 3D printing in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Different materials applied successfully for synthesis of bioink are also described in detail. The focus of this review is on the recently reported materials for bioink production and their properties in context to 3D bioprinting.