Toward 4D printed functional soft tissues
Shabazz A., Fitlin J., Orozco-Contreras H., Guo S., Zhang LG., Fisher JP.
Narrative Review, published in Acta Biomater (2026) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.
Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.
- Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
- Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
- Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
- Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
- Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.
- Study type
- Narrative Review
- Journal
- Acta Biomater (2026)
- Reported sample size
- —
- Source database
- Europe PMC
- PMID
- 41722747
- PMCID
- PMC13003350
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.actbio.2026.02.035
- Citations
- 1
Abstract (original English)
The repair of soft tissue defects remains a leading clinical challenge for patients with active lifestyles, unintentional falls and injuries, cancer, and age-related diseases. Tissue engineering and 3D printing have been developed over the last decades as strategies to create personalized tissue mimics by precisely depositing biomaterials and cells to fabricate static constructs. However, long-term clinical solutions call for increasing the complexity of engineered models to incorporate bioactive processes that mimic the dynamic nature of human tissues. 4D printing has therefore become a growing strategy for building soft tissue constructs that exert function with time. The critical challenge lies in balancing biologically relevant tissue-specific function with programmable material capabilities in response to environmental stimuli. This review highlights the technological advancements that have improved progress in soft tissue engineering to build complex skin, cardiovascular, nerve, skeletal muscle, and connective tissue constructs. We first discuss mechanisms for 4D material actuation through external stimuli, which, when combined with advanced additive manufacturing tools, can assemble and program responsive tissue mimics. We next address progress in engineering functional soft tissues, which are characterized by tissue type, and discuss their limitations. Finally, the chal
What this study does not prove
- • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
- • This is a narrative review: it collects no new patient data and does not systematically appraise evidence quality.
Evidence level
Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.
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