Application and development of 3D printing technology in Biology

Modern imaging techniques are a crucial component of biological medicine. However, the representative of traditional 2 dimension (D) method limited the application of traditional methods of 3D reconstruction. Three D printing, also known as rapid prototyping or additive manufacturing, is a technique to obtain 3D products by use of the methods of computer-aided, hierarchical processing and superimposed layers, and has been used in the fields of industry and manufacture. Three D image analysis provides more detailed information than conventional plain 2D radiography, and these additional advantages of 3D printing allow its application in preoperative planning and regeneration treatment. Today the 3D printing has been extensively used in medical fields. For example, application of this technique has been extended to biological cell printing for 3D tissue/organ development, the creation of skeleton in tissue engineering and many other medical fields. In this review, we demonstrate some key applications of current 3D printing techniques in biology. Key words: 3D print; Biology; Clinical application