3D bioprinting for active drug delivery

The process of three-dimensional printing (3DP) has recently taken the world by storm, offering people the ability to create innumerable objects from toys to even food. Now that the scientific community has picked up on this technology, the fields of tissue engineering and biofabrication have boomed. While many bioengineers are using 3DP to print tailorable tissue analogs and organs, others are taking advantage of the technology to create drug-releasing systems with slower and longer lasting drug release profiles. In this chapter, we will first discuss a brief overview of the history of 3D bioprinting before going into the chief materials and applications. Then we will take a look at some of the present works done in drug delivery with 3DP technology and the future outlook.