Scientists have already learned how to print tissue, cartilage and bones – and in the coming decades, bioprinted implants for surgical use will appear
The advent of 3D printing has already provoked a revolution in manufacturing, and bioprinting can be called one of the most promising technologies of the future.
The first experiments in bioprinting (still two-dimensional, at the cell level) took place just a few years after the invention of the very principle of stereolithography, that is, in the late 1980s, and now it already makes it possible to print tissues and organoids, that is, smaller copies of organs . Cartilage and bones have already been printed, a human ear and a miniature human heart have been printed. Today the technology is mainly used for modeling, but over time, scientists will apparently be able to print organs tailored to a specific person.
Printing functional organs is an extremely difficult task , but printing any tissue is already a success. Bioprinting appears to be a viable method for creating, for example, heart valves that cannot regenerate. Tissue models can also help study the effectiveness of drugs (and, more broadly, they can be used as part of testing cosmetics).
Today, bioprinting is still at the research stage , and not all experiments are successful. Bioprinted implants for surgical use may be available in the coming decades, but the path to clinical implementation will be fraught with many ethical, bureaucratic and technical challenges. However, they could be a revolutionary solution for the future.
