Replace and repair: Biomimetic bioprinting for effective muscle engineering

Abstract

The debilitating effects of muscle damage, either through ischemic injury or volumetric muscle loss (VML), can have significant impacts on patients, and yet there are few effective treatments. This challenge arises when function is degraded due to significant amounts of skeletal muscle loss, beyond the regenerative ability of endogenous repair mechanisms. Currently available surgical interventions for VML are quite invasive and cannot typically restore function adequately. In response to this, many new bioengineering studies implicate 3D bioprinting as a viable option. Bioprinting for VML repair includes three distinct phases: printing and seeding, growth and maturation, and implantation and..