Biofabrication: reappraising the definition of an evolving field

• Published in: Biofabrication Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 13001 - 13005
• Main Authors: Groll, Jürgen, Boland, Thomas, Blunk, Torsten, Burdick, Jason A, Cho, Dong-Woo, Dalton, Paul D, Derby, Brian, Forgacs, Gabor, Li, Qing, Mironov, Vladimir A, Moroni, Lorenzo, Nakamura, Makoto, Shu, Wenmiao, Takeuchi, Shoji, Vozzi, Giovanni, Woodfield, Tim B F, Xu, Tao, Yoo, James J, Malda, Jos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England IOP Publishing 08.01.2016
• Subjects: Bioartificial Organs - trends; Bioassembly; Biocompatible Materials - chemical synthesis; Biofabrication; Biological Products - chemical synthesis; Biomimetic Materials - chemical synthesis; Bioprinting; definition; Evolution; Printing, Three-Dimensional - trends; Regeneration (physiology); Strategy; Terminology; Terminology as Topic; Three dimensional printing; Tissue engineering; Tissue Engineering - trends
• ISSN: 1758-5090; 1758-5082; 1758-5090
• DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/8/1/013001

Biofabrication is an evolving research field that has recently received significant attention. In particular, the adoption of Biofabrication concepts within the field of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine has grown tremendously, and has been accompanied by a growing inconsistency in terminology. This article aims at clarifying the position of Biofabrication as a research field with a special focus on its relation to and application for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. Within this context, we propose a refined working definition of Biofabrication, including Bioprinting and Bioassembly as complementary strategies within Biofabrication.