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Light-based vat-polymerization bioprinting

Nature Reviews Methods Primers volume 3, Article number: 47 (2023) Cite this article

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Abstract

Light-based vat-polymerization bioprinting enables computer-aided patterning of 3D cell-laden structures in a point-by-point, layer-by-layer or volumetric manner, using vat (vats) filled with photoactivatable bioresin (bioresins). This collection of technologies — divided by their modes of operation into stereolithography, digital light processing and volumetric additive manufacturing — has been extensively developed over the past few decades, leading to broad applications in biomedicine. In this Primer, we illustrate the methodology of light-based vat-polymerization 3D bioprinting from the perspectives of hardware, software and bioresin selections. We follow with discussions on methodological variations of these technologies, including their latest advancements, as well as elaborating on key assessments utilized towards ensuring qualities of the bioprinting procedures and products. We conclude by providing insights into future directions of light-based vat-polymerization methods.

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Fig. 1: Typical light-based vat-polymerization techniques.
Fig. 2: Variations in vat-polymerization techniques, taking digital light processing bioprinting as an example.
Fig. 3: Determining light-dose responses and working curves in light-based vat-polymerization bioprinting.
Fig. 4: Resolution assessments in light-based vat-polymerization bioprinting.
Fig. 5: Examples of tissue-engineered constructs.

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Acknowledgements

R.L. acknowledges funding from the European Research Council and from the FET-OPEN scheme under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement Nos. 949806 and 964497) and from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (024.004.013 and NWA.1228.192.105). B.E.K. and K.S.A. acknowledge funding from the NIH (R01DE16523 and R01DK120921). J.S. acknowledges funding support from the NIH (F31NS125986). S.C. acknowledges funding from the NIH (R01CA253615, R33HD090662 and R21ES034455) and the National Science Foundation (1907434 and 2135720). M.Z.-W. acknowledges funding from Innosuisse (55019.1 IP-ENG). Y.S.Z. acknowledges funding from the NIH (R21EB025270, R01EB028143, R01HL165176 and R01HL166522), the National Science Foundation (1936105) and the Brigham Research Institute.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Riccardo Levato

  2. Department of Orthopedics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Riccardo Levato & Oksana Dudaryeva

  3. Division of Engineering in Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Carlos Ezio Garciamendez-Mijares & Yu Shrike Zhang

  4. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Bruce E. Kirkpatrick & Kristi S. Anseth

  5. BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA

    Bruce E. Kirkpatrick & Kristi S. Anseth

  6. Medical Scientist Training Program, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA

    Bruce E. Kirkpatrick

  7. Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Riccardo Rizzo & Marcy Zenobi-Wong

  8. Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    Riccardo Rizzo

  9. Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    Riccardo Rizzo

  10. Department of NanoEngineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Jacob Schimelman & Shaochen Chen

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  1. Riccardo Levato
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  2. Oksana Dudaryeva
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Contributions

Introduction (R.L., O.D. and Y.S.Z.); Experimentation (R.L., O.D., C.E.G.-M., B.E.K., K.S.A. and Y.S.Z.); Results (R.L., O.D. and Y.S.Z.); Applications (R.R., M.Z.-W. and Y.S.Z.); Reproducibility and data deposition (R.L., O.D., C.E.G.-M. and Y.S.Z.); Limitations and optimizations (Y.S.Z. and R.L.); Outlook (J.S., S.C. and Y.S.Z.); Overview of the Primer (R.L. and Y.S.Z.); Reviewing and editing (all authors).

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Riccardo Levato or Yu Shrike Zhang.

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Competing interests

Y.S.Z. consults for Allevi by 3D Systems and sits on the scientific advisory board and holds options of Xellar, both of which, however, did not participate in or bias the work. R.L. is a scientific advisor for Readily3D SA, which did not participate in or bias the work. The other authors declare no competing interests.

Peer review

Peer review information

Nature Reviews Methods Primers thanks Yan Han Huang, Liliang Ouyang and Wai Yee Yeong for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Related links

3D Printing Database: http://cect.umd.edu/3d-printing-database

GitHub: http://github.com

Mendeley Data: http://data.mendeley.com

OpenExposer: https://hackaday.io/project/1129-openexposer

Zenodo: http://zenodo.org

Supplementary information

Glossary

Green strength

The strength of the 3D-bioprinted material before it is processed to its final strength.

Melt electrowriting

A 3D printing method that uses electric fields to draw molten polymer filaments at microscale or nanoscale diameters with defined patterns before bending instabilities occur.

Multi-wavelength bioprinting

Bioprinting using multiple wavelengths, where each wavelength crosslinks a specific component within the bioresin.

Porogens

An additive that can disperse in the bioresin and may leach out or dissolve away to form pores in the material.

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Levato, R., Dudaryeva, O., Garciamendez-Mijares, C.E. et al. Light-based vat-polymerization bioprinting. Nat Rev Methods Primers 3, 47 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43586-023-00231-0

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