Sadraei Alireza, Naghib Seyed Morteza, Rabiee Navid
Nanotechnology Department, School of Advanced Technologies, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Tehran, Iran.
Department of Basic Medical Science, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
Expert Opin Drug Deliv. 2025 Apr;22(4):471-490. doi: 10.1080/17425247.2025.2466772. Epub 2025 Feb 18.
The advent of 3D printing has revolutionized biomedical engineering, yet limitations in creating dynamic human tissues remain. The emergence of 4D printing, which introduces time as a fourth dimension, offers new possibilities by enabling the production of adaptable, stimuli-responsive structures. A thorough literature search was performed across various databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, to identify pertinent studies published up to 2025. The search parameters were confined to articles published in English that concentrated on peer-reviewed clinical studies.
This review explores the transition from 3D to 4D printing and focuses on stimuli-responsive materials, particularly hydrogels, which react to environmental changes. The literature search examined recent studies on the interaction of these materials with biological stimuli, emphasizing their application in tissue engineering and drug delivery applications.
4D printing, combined with smart materials, holds immense promise for advancing biomedical treatments, including customized therapies and regenerative medicine. However, technological challenges must be addressed to realize its full potential.
3D打印的出现彻底改变了生物医学工程，但在创建动态人体组织方面仍存在局限性。4D打印的出现引入了时间作为第四维度，通过生产适应性强、对刺激有反应的结构提供了新的可能性。我们在包括谷歌学术、PubMed、Scopus和科学网在内的各种数据库中进行了全面的文献检索，以识别截至2025年发表的相关研究。检索参数仅限于以英文发表的、专注于同行评审临床研究的文章。
本综述探讨了从3D打印到4D打印的转变，并重点关注对环境变化有反应的刺激响应材料，特别是水凝胶。文献检索研究了这些材料与生物刺激相互作用的近期研究，强调了它们在组织工程和药物递送应用中的应用。
4D打印与智能材料相结合，在推进生物医学治疗方面具有巨大潜力，包括定制疗法和再生医学。然而，必须解决技术挑战才能充分发挥其潜力。
