ABSTRACT
The significant advances in the field of tissue engineering and biomaterials science, has enabled the possibility to regenerate tissues or even full organs taking advantage of additive manufacturing strategies. Consequently, the development of bioinks, key in 3D bioprinting, has exponentially grown in the last decade. A broad array of natural and synthetic polymeric raw materials are currently available for the preparation of bioinks designed to fulfill the biological and printing requirements of the existing 3D printing technologies. This chapter summarizes the state of the art of polymers for bioink formulation, highlighting their strengths and limitations, and the customization and blending strategies followed toward developing organs and tissues. Furthermore, the different criteria for the selection of bioink components based on the anatomical/physiological needs and printing strategies are also addressed.
