
Advanced manufacturing is a collection of new or existing manufacturing processes that leverage innovative technologies. These innovations can include, for instance; automation, computation, or sensing. An example of an advanced manufacturing technique is additive manufacturing, which involves building a product layer by layer in three dimensions (3D), also referred to as 3D printing. Soft materials are increasingly used in advanced manufacturing techniques for biomedical applications because compliant materials can more easily interface with the skin. This interface is important for wearables, medical devices, surgical robots, and other applications that involve human-machine interactions. The soft materials include liquids, gels, colloids, polymers, and even biologics such as cells, extracellular matrices, and biomolecules. These biologics are used for bioprinting with a vision to systematically develop biomaterials, tissues, and even organs. The manufacturing of rigid parts also often requires soft raw materials that are subsequently transformed to establish structural integrity by crosslinking or other mechanisms. The process of making scaffolds that mimic hard tissue such as bone, for example, begins with biodegradable polymers dissolved in solvents. Taken together, the possibilities of using advanced manufacturing technology with soft materials and biologics are expanding. This collection aims to provide a snapshot of the state-of-the-art methods that combine advanced manufacturing with soft matter or biologics for biomedical applications.
Decellularized Cartilage as a Biomimetic Scaffold: A Process for Tissue Engineering Applications
Jair Aguiar*1
1Laboratório de Análise de Glicoconjugados, Departamento de Bioquímica, ICB, UFJF