Recent Advances in Robotic Printing for Surgical Implants to Enhance Cartilage Regeneration

June 22, 2023 feature

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by Ingrid Fadelli, Tech Xplore

Cartilage damage can lead to significant pain and disability in affected individuals, reducing their quality of life. Traditional surgical procedures aimed at repairing or reducing cartilage damage have limited success. In recent years, medical researchers and engineers have turned to 3D bio-printing as a promising solution for promoting tissue regeneration.

A recent review paper published in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing examined the potential and limitations of bioprinting for repairing cartilage tissue. Researchers from the University of Manchester and Nanyang Technological University, among other universities, explored the use of in-vitro bioprinting and its limitations, leading some teams to explore the potential of in situ bioprinting to circumvent these issues and directly deliver bioinks to the desired anatomical site.

The researchers focused on the new frontier of robotic-assisted in situ bioprinting surgical systems for cartilage regeneration. They examined different robot-assisted in situ bioprinting approaches, including minimally invasive and non-invasive procedures. Flexible robotic systems with high degrees of freedom offer a valuable alternative to rigid or semi-rigid printing nozzles, which could increase the complexity of the procedures.

Researchers have even devised approaches that rely on digital near-infrared technology to print ear-like structures directly on a patient's body, although this approach is far harder, if not impossible, to implement inside the body. Other proposed in situ approaches to promote the regeneration of cartilage rely on the use of tiny robots that can enter the body without damaging it, delivering stem cells or substances to injured sites inside the body while also potentially integrating with 3D bioprinting tools.

Overall, the potential benefits of in situ bioprinting for tissue regeneration are significant, and while still in early stages of development, the use of robotic-assisted systems offers a novel strategy for cartilage repair.

While all these approaches could be promising, several challenges will need to be overcome and many trials will need to be carried out before they can be tested on humans and introduced in clinical settings. The recent paper by Wang, Perreira and his colleagues offers a broad overview of the stage at which these promising strategies are today, while also highlighting areas ways in which they could be developed further in the future.

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