ABSTRACT

The systems discussed in this chapter provide an intermediate between 2D systems and whole animal studies for the discovery, deposition, and cellular response of inhaled pharmaceuticals. This chapter will review the state-of-the-art in many bioengineering and additive manufacturing techniques that are being utilised to develop 3D models of the lung. This chapter discusses hydrogel co-culture systems, lung-on-a-chip devices, 3D printed airways, ex vivo perfused lungs, precision cut lung slices, decellularised lung matrices, and bioprinting. The advantages of these systems are that they can typically include multiple human cell types, take into account mechanical and geometrical influences for drug delivery, and are higher throughput than conventional animal studies. These systems retain some disadvantages for pharmaceutical aerosol testing, however, if they are utilised in concert with other methods described in this textbook, they can be a valuable part of the design and analysis of new inhaled pharmaceuticals. The overall use of each system and the advantages and limitations are detailed in this chapter.