The History, Current Status, Benefits, and Challenges of 3D Printed Organs

TL;DR

This review discusses the evolution, current state, benefits, and challenges of 3D bioprinting of organs, highlighting its potential to revolutionize transplantation but also noting existing technical and ethical hurdles.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the history, current advancements, and future prospects of 3D printed organs, emphasizing the technological and ethical challenges involved.

Findings

3D bioprinting aims to enable safer, demand-based organ transplantation.

Technological improvements are progressing towards clinical application.

Challenges include biocompatibility, biofunctionality, and legal issues.

Abstract

There is an increase in demand for organs as transplantation is becoming a common practice to elongate human life. To reach this demand, three-dimensional bioprinting is developing from prior knowledge of scaffolds, growth factors, etc. This review paper aims to determine the current status and future possibilities of three-dimensional bioprinting of organs and evaluate the benefits and challenges, along with the history of its development. Prior research has viewed three-dimensional bioprinting as a technology that will enable safer transplantation without graft rejection and provide demand-based production. However, it faces challenges such as the need to improve biocompatibility and biofunctionality, legal and ethical issues, and the need to improve the technology itself. While the development of three-dimensional printing organs is not yet completed, we are seeing improvements and expecting it to be clinically applied soon.