Minimally invasive bioprinting for <i>in situ</i> liver regeneration.

Abstract

<i>In situ</i> bioprinting is promising for developing scaffolds directly on defect models in operating rooms, which provides a new strategy for <i>in situ</i> tissue regeneration. However, due to the limitation of existing <i>in situ</i> biofabrication technologies including printing depth and suitable bioinks, bioprinting scaffolds in deep dermal or extremity injuries remains a grand challenge. Here, we present an <i>in vivo</i> scaffold fabrication approach by minimally invasive bioprinting electroactive hydrogel scaffolds to promote <i>in situ</i> tissue regeneration. The minimally invasive bioprinting system consists of a ferromagnetic soft catheter robot for extrusion, a digital laparoscope for <i>in situ</i> monitoring, and a Veress needle for establishing a pneumoperitoneum. After 3D reconstruction of the defects with computed tomography, electroactive hydrogel scaffolds are printed within partial liver resection of live rats, and <i>in situ</i> tissue regeneration is achieved by promoting the proliferation, migration, and differentiation of cells and maintaining liver function <i>in vivo</i>.