Could 3D extrusion bioprinting serve to be a real alternative to organ transplantation in the future?

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has made incredible steps over the last 30 years and is now being widely used for healthcare applications. There has been increasing research into the possibilities of using this technology for creating viable tissues and organs, a field known as 3D bioprinting. This is motivated by the severe mismatch in demand for organ transplantation and the availability of donors. In this review, we examine the technology of 3D bioprinting and focus on extrusion-based technology, giving its relative advantages and disadvantages. We review work on creating tissues and organs, particularly focussing on the examples of skin, liver, heart and blood vessels. We examine the challenges in creating viable tissues and organs and also the associated ethical issues. Given the great progress made already in this field, the prospect of creating fully functional tissues and organs for transplantation by 3D bioprinting is now a real near-future possibility.