Bioprinting in ophthalmology: current advances and future pathways

Abstract

Bioprinting is a promising technology which has gained a recent attention to applying it in all aspects of human life and has specific advantages in different areas of medicines, especially in ophthalmology. The three-dimensional (3D) printing tools have been widely utilized in different applications starting from surgical planning procedures to 3D models for certain highly delicate organs (such as: eye and heart). The purpose of this paper is to review the dedicated research efforts that so far have been made to highlight applications of 3D printing in the field of ophthalmology. In this paper, the state of the art review has been summarized for bioprinters, biomaterials, and methodologies adopted to cure eye diseases. This paper starts with fundamental discussions and gradually leads towards the summery and future trends by covering almost all the research insights. For better understanding of the readers, various tables and figures have also been incorporated. Findings – The usages of bio-printed surgical models have shown to be helpful in shortening the time of operation and decreasing the risk of donor, and hence it could boost certain surgical effects. This demonstrates the wide use of bioprinting to design more precise biological research models for research in broader range of applications such as in generating blood vessels and cardiac tissue. Though bioprinting has not created significant impact in ophthalmology in recent times, however, these technologies could be helpful in treating several ocular disorders in the near future.This review work is emphasized on the understanding of 3D printing technologies in the light of which these can be applied in ophthalmology to achieve successful treatment of eye diseases.