Advancements in 3D printed scaffolds to mimic matrix complexities for musculoskeletal repair

With the expiration of key patents on additive manufacturing, 3D printing devices have become extremely inexpensive. Therefore, the use of 3D printing in biomedical applications has blossomed in the past decade. Low-cost, high-quality instruments have become widely used in both industrial and academic settings. Fused deposition modeling using polymers such as polylactic acid, polycaprolactone, or other composites are now combined with bioprinting to open new avenues to cutting-edge research toward musculoskeletal repair and regeneration such as prevascularized bone or soft-tissue constructs. Most importantly, these tools are being widely used to generate composite scaffolds representing matrices on which to culture cells of various tissue types such as bone, cartilage, cardiac, and nervous tissue. 3D printed composite matrix scaffolds are being tested in sophisticated in vitro and in vivo preclinical models, paving the way for future clinical translation where the ultimate goal is to generate functional replacement tissues.