HYDRO-GEL POLYMERS AND 3D BIOPRINTING IN SKIN ENGINEERING - A REVIEW

Tissue engineering is a booming field of science and technology. The sheer potential it emanates is enough to place all attention on it. Tissue engineering is widely researched for the development of skin substitutes to treat patients with infections or disorders. Commercial skin substitutes provide a promising future to medicine. The availability of different biomaterials for the production of artificial skin has posed many questions regarding the feasibility, usability, and practicality of these products. The articles reviewed discuss tissue engineering as a challenging field and how skin substitutes are vital. Biomaterials and hydrogel studies are found to be a game changer for the field. The functional aspects have been discussed with the physical characteristics for better understanding. Different techniques of printing biological structures by using scaffolds are discussed in detail. Scaffolds provide a very efficient structural composition for the bioprinter to manifest the organ to be printed. Bioink composition and preparation with scientific knowledge make it a very important asset in tissue engineering. The future of regenerative medicine and organ transplantation is expected to be safe within the various aspects of tissue engineering. The vast possibilities it offers is hard to not explore further. Even though the research field has come a long way since the beginning of tissue culture in the 1970s, there are still different challenges to be faced and conquered.