3D printing technology and tissue engineering technology in tracheal replacement: Application and hotspot research / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Functional tracheal reconstruction remains a surgical challenge due to the lack of satisfactory tracheal substitutes. OBJECTIVE: To review the research hotspot, clinical application, and main obstacles of tissue-engineered trachea METHODS: A computer-based search of PubMed, Medline, and WanFang databases was performed to retrieve relevant articles published from 2004 to 2019 with the search terms “3D printing, tissue-engineered trachea, trachea reconstruction, tracheal replacement” in English and Chinese. A total of 47 literatures were included in the final analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: At present, the methods of tracheal reconstruction mainly include artificial tracheal transplantation, allotransplantation, autologous tissue transplantation and tissue-engineered tracheal transplantation. Artificial trachea transplants often fail due to rupture, infection and narrowing of the trachea. Allotransplantation requires long-term immunosuppressive therapy, and death is often caused by necrosis and infection because of insufficient angiogenesis after transplantation. Autogenous tissue has limited ability to replicate the structure and function of the trachea and also has surgical trauma. Tissue-engineered trachea can simulate the biological structure and function similar to natural trachea by selecting suitable scaffold materials and implanting seed cells evenly in the scaffold. It seems to be an ideal tracheal substitute. An intact tracheal scaffold was prepared with biodegradable material using 3D printing technology combined with tissue engineering technology and then implanted into the tissue-engineered trachea cultured with mesenchymal stem cells. This provides a new approach to long-segment tracheal defect reconstruction.