title: Bioprinting: an assessment based on manufacturing readiness levels.
abstract: Over the last decade, bioprinting has emerged as a promising technology in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. With recent advances in additive manufacturing, bioprinting is poised to provide patient-specific therapies and new approaches for tissue and organ studies, drug discoveries and even food manufacturing. Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) is a method that has been applied to assess manufacturing maturity and to identify risks and gaps in technology-manufacturing transitions. Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is used to evaluate the maturity of a technology. This paper reviews recent advances in bioprinting following the MRL scheme and addresses corresponding MRL levels of engineering challenges and gaps associated with the translation of bioprinting from lab-bench experiments to ultimate full-scale manufacturing of tissues and organs. According to our step-by-step TRL and MRL assessment, after years of rigorous investigation by the biotechnology community, bioprinting is on the cusp of entering the translational phase where laboratory research practices can be scaled up into manufacturing products specifically designed for individual patients.
authors.affiliation: a Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , GA , USA.|b School of Materials Science and Engineering , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , GA , USA.
authors.forename: Changsheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: a Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , GA , USA.|b School of Materials Science and Engineering , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , GA , USA.|c School of Industrial and Systems Engineering , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , GA , USA.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: a Georgia Tech Manufacturing Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , GA , USA.|c School of Industrial and Systems Engineering , Georgia Institute of Technology , Atlanta , GA , USA.
authors.forename: Chuck
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: d Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering , North Carolina State University , Raleigh , NC , USA.
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Wysk
authors.affiliation: e Institute of Clinical Medical Science, China Medical University , Taichung , Taiwan , ROC.|f 3D Printing Medical Research Center, China Medical University Hospital , Taichung , Taiwan , ROC.
authors.forename: Yi-Wen
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D008420:Manufactured Materials / Q000382:microbiology*; D008669:Metallurgy / Q000379:methods*; D008670:Metals / Q000737:chemistry*; D054802:Molecular Imprinting / Q000379:methods*; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D008670:Metals
keywords: Additive manufacturing; biofabrication; organ printing; regenerative medicine; scaffold; tissue engineering