Page 106 - IJB-9-1

International Journal of Bioprinting

REVIEW ARTICLE
Robotic-assisted automated in situ bioprinting

1
1,2
Hui Dong , Bo Hu , Weikang Zhang , Wantao Xie , Jin Mo , Hao Sun *,
1
1,2
1
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Junyi Shang *
3
1 School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Fuzhou University, Fuzhou 350116, China
2 Fujian Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center of High-End Equipment Manufacturing, Fuzhou
350116, China
3 School of Automation, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Abstract

In situ bioprinting has emerged as a promising technology for tissue and organ
engineering based on the precise positioning of living cells, growth factors, and
biomaterials. Rather than traditional in vitro reconstruction and recapitulation
of tissue or organ models, the in situ technology can directly print on specific
anatomical positions in living bodies. The requirements for biological activity,
function, and mechanical property in an in vivo setting are more complex. By
combining progressive innovations of biomaterials, tissue engineering, and
digitalization, especially robotics, in situ bioprinting has gained significant interest
from the academia and industry, demonstrating its prospect for clinical studies.
This article reviews the progress of in situ bioprinting, with an emphasis on robotic-
assisted studies. The main modalities for in situ three-dimensional bioprinting,
which include extrusion-based printing, inkjet printing, laser-based printing, and
their derivatives, are briefly introduced. These modalities have been integrated with
*Corresponding authors: various custom-tailored printers (i.e., end effectors) mounted on robotic arms for
Hao Sun
(sh@fzu.edu.cn) dexterous and precision biofabrication. The typical prototypes based on various
Junyi Shang robot configurations, including Cartesian, articulated, and parallel mechanisms,
(shangjunyi@bit.edu.cn) for in situ bioprinting are discussed and compared. The conventional and most
Citation: Dong H, Hu B, recent applications of robotic-assisted methods for in situ fabrication of tissue and
Zhang W, et al., 2023, Robotic- organ models, including cartilage, bone, and skin, are also elucidated, followed
assisted automated in situ
bioprinting. Int J Bioprint, 9(1): 629. by a discussion on the existing challenges in this field with their corresponding
https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v9i1.629 suggestions.
Received: August 28, 2022
Accepted: September 20, 2022 Keywords: In situ bioprinting; Robot configurations; Robotic-assisted bioprinting
Published Online: October 28, 2022
Copyright: © 2022 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article 1. Introduction
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a technique that deposits and accumulates materials
License, permitting distribution, [1]
and reproduction in any medium, through computer-aided design and manufacturing to construct physical entities . In
provided the original work is the early stages of its technological development, 3D printing was considered merely
properly cited. befitting for the fabrication of functional or aesthetic prototypes, and thus the term rapid
[2]
Publisher’s Note: Whioce prototyping was often adopted to represent this technique . 3D printing is now used
Publishing remains neutral with synonymously with additive manufacturing since its precision, efficiency, reproducibility,
regard to jurisdictional claims in [3]
published maps and institutional and robustness have been greatly enhanced to the industrial-production level . 3D
affiliations. printing simplifies the processing procedure and minimizes the cost of personalized

Volume 9 Issue 1 (2023) 98 https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v9i1.629