Figure 8.

Schematic of the challenges for engineering bioinks suitable for 3D printing. Optimal shape fidelity can be typically achieved with stiff hydrogels (top right), however, this dense network limits cell viability. Contrarily, cell survive best in soft hydrogels, but shape fidelity cannot be achieved (bottom left). Therefore, a compromise between biological and fabrication properties must be done (middle). Novel strategies aimed at obtaining high shape fidelity with cytocompatible hydrogels. Reproduced from [105] with permission. Copyright (2009) Wiley-VCH.