Fig. 2

Components of inkjet, microextrusion, and laser-assisted bioprinters. This figure was adapted from the original article of Murphy et al. [46] (Copyright 2014 Nature America, Inc.). a In thermal inkjet printers, the print head is electrically heated to produce air-pressure pulses that force droplets from the nozzle, while acoustic printers use pulses formed by piezoelectric or ultrasound pressure. b Microextrusion printers use pneumatic or mechanical dispensing systems to extrude continuous beads of material and/or cells. c Laser-assisted printers use lasers focused on an absorbing substrate to generate pressures that propel cell-containing materials onto a collector substrate