Laser assisted cell printing

Abstract

Computer assisted biofabrication of fully functional living tissue for regenerative medicine involves generation of complex three-dimensional constructs consisting of living cells and biomaterials. Laser BioPrinting (LaBP) based on laser-induced forward-transfer provides unique possibilities for the deposition of different living cells and biomaterials in a well-defined 3D structure. LaBP can be applied to generate scaffold-free 3D cell systems through a layer-by-layer technique by combining cell solutions with materials that are able to form stable gels. Also, it is used to precisely populate scaffolds with different cells and different cell densities. It was proven that printed cells are not affected by the laser printing procedure and that a differentiation of printed stem cells is not induced. Thus, LaBP is demonstrated as a promising tool for the ex vivo generation of tissue replacements.