Contribution of electrofabrication technology to the progress of tissue engineering research / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Electrofabrication has broadened the structure, performance, and applications of biomedical materials. Through selecting appropriate materials and optimizing structures, tissue engineering scaffolds that conform to human physiological environment can be constructed, which is of considerable significance to promote the development of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. OBJECTIVE: To review the research progress of electrofabrication technology in tissue engineering. METHODS: Web of Science Core Collection and MEDLINE databases were searched for relevant articles with the search terms “tissue engineering scaffold, electrodeposition, electrofabrication, electrogelation, bioprinting, biomedical materials, biopolymers” in English. After screening articles based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, articles with higher relevance were retained for review. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Electrofabrication can apply electrical signals to regulate material pores or layered structures through precise spatial, temporal and quantitative control, can quickly and controllably construct functional tissue engineering scaffold materials with complicated microstructures, but without the introduction of organic solvents or other biotoxic substances during the processing. Although there have been many research results on the electrofabrication of biological materials, there are few studies on how the electrofabrication parameters affect the material structure and deposition dynamics, and further theoretical and modeling work is needed to understand the mechanism involved in electrofabrication.