Page 9 - IJB-10-4

International

Journal of Bioprinting

REVIEW ARTICLE
Photoacoustic imaging for three-dimensional

bioprinted constructs

Donghyeon Oh 1† id , Hwanyong Choi 2† id , Chulhong Kim * and Jinah Jang *
1
2
1 Departments of Electrical Engineering, Convergence IT Engineering, Medical Science and
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Medical Device Innovation Center, Pohang University of
Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea
2 Departments of Mechanical Engineering, and Center for 3D Organ Printing and Stem Cells, Pohang
University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Pohang, Gyeongbuk, Republic of Korea
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: 3D printing of marine origin materials for biomedical application)

Abstract
Bioimaging is used to inspect the successful growth and functional differentiation of
cells in printed biomaterials, which are ultimately finalized into functional artificial
tissues capable of replacing native tissues. While optical bioimaging techniques are
commonly utilized, the current trend in three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting towards
replicating complex 3D microarchitectures poses a challenge for conventional
optical imaging techniques in providing clear cross-sectional images due to the
opaque nature of tissue. Consequently, these limitations necessitate lengthy and
destructive preparation processes, which are associated with sacrificing cell viability
and damaging the bioprinted material. Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is a versatile
† These authors contributed equally imaging technique that extends the advantages of the optical bioimaging technique
to this work.
to undiscovered depths enabled by its acoustic hybridity, making itself a promising
*Corresponding authors: tool for non-destructive imaging of 3D bioprinted constructs. In this review, we
Chulhong Kim introduce the flexible spectral contrasts provided by PAI, which are potentially
(chulhong@postech.edu)
Jinah Jang applicable to 3D-bioprinted constructs, and summarize bioprinting studies that
(jinahjang@postech.ac.kr) functionally implement PAI for in vitro and in vivo assessments. Finally, we provide an
outlook on practical considerations for the more complete integration of these two
Citation: Oh D, Choi H, Kim C,
Jang J. Photoacoustic imaging fields, anticipating more fruitful discoveries as bioprinting advances towards more
for three-dimensional bioprinted complex hierarchies.
constructs.
Int J Bioprint. 2024;10(4):3448.
doi: 10.36922/ijb.3448 Keywords: Photoacoustic imaging; Three-dimensional; Spectral imaging; Monitoring
Received: April 18, 2024
Accepted: June 24, 2024
Published Online: July 23, 2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). 1. Introduction
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the Over recent decades, tissue engineering has ushered in significant breakthroughs
Creative Commons Attribution in developing functional tissues and organs tailored for application in regenerative
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, medicine. Among the most promising methods in this field is three-dimensional (3D)
provided the original work is bioprinting, through which bioinks comprising different types of cells and biomaterials
properly cited. are deposited to construct complex, patient-specific tissue structures. The precise
1–4
Publisher’s Note: AccScience 3D control of the bioink arrangement facilitates a layer-by-layer creation of intricate
Publishing remains neutral with tissue structures, enabling the fabrication of artificial tissues with a morphology and
5–9
regard to jurisdictional claims in functionality similar to that of natural organs compared with two-dimensional (2D)
published maps and institutional
affiliations. modalities. 9–14 For a more complete replication, 3D bioprinting technology is advancing

Volume 10 Issue 4 (2024) 1 doi: 10.36922/ijb.3448