Within the world of 3D bioprinting, the most exciting developments to look forward to involve the 3D printing of essential human body parts. However, for us hair loss sufferers, 3D bioprinted hair is of foremost interest.<\/p>\n
Note that there are various 3D printing technologies with different purposes. These include: bioprinting of hair follicles that would then be transplanted; bioprinting of skin that also contains hair and sweat glands;\u00a03D printing of scaffolds to assist in 3D culturing of hair<\/a> and dermal papilla cells; and 3D printing of hair systems.<\/p>\n Update: October 25, 2026<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Interview of Dr. Carolina Motter Catarino<\/a> (Brazil) who recently presented the \u201cAdvances in Hair Biology\u201d lecture at ISHRS 2026<\/a> in Brazil. Her presentation was titled:<\/p>\n \u201cBridging Data and Tissue: Bioinformatics and 3D Bioengineering for Next-Generation Hair Follicle Research.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Update: March 21, 2024<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n University of Oregon (US) researchers have teamed up<\/a> with scientists from L\u2019Or\u00e9al<\/a> (France) to develop a multilayered artificial skin that more accurately mimics real human skin. Their research on tailored skin tissue engineering<\/a> was published on March 7 in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. The artificial skin can be grown in just 18 days and relies on a novel 3D printing technique. Most importantly, these skin models have the potential to be safely transplanted into humans in future. This would paved the way for personalized skin grafts for burn victims and patients with skin diseases.<\/p>\n Update: March 1, 2024<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n In a new study led by Dr. Ibrahim Ozbolat and other scientists from Penn State University<\/a> (US), the researchers managed to bioprint skin as well as hair in rats in a unique way using adipose (fat) cells. The full study can be read in the latest issue of Bioactive Materials<\/a>. One of the co-authors is Ryan Driskell from Washington State. I covered his work and unique skin related website in my post on skin regeneration, wound healing and hair growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n The researchers obtained fat cells and tissue from patients undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital. They then used this tissue to correct injuries in rats via the use of a 3D printer. They also obtained adipose-derived stem cells<\/a> (ADSCs) and adipose-derived extracellular matrix (adECM) from the adipose tissue to make another bioink component.<\/p>\n While scientists have previously 3D bioprinted thin layers of skin, the Penn team are the first to intraoperatively print a full, living system of multiple skin layers. This includes the lowest layer hypodermis, which is below the epidermis and dermis. The ADSCs and ECM also induced downgrowth of hair follicle-like structures.<\/p>\n According to Dr. Ozbolat:<\/p>\n \u201cWe are working to advance this, to mature the hair follicles with controlled density, directionality and growth. We believe this could be applied in dermatology, hair transplants, and plastic and reconstructive surgeries.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n November 16, 2023<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n A team of scientists from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (US) has 3D-printed hair follicles in human skin tissue cultured in the lab. The research was published<\/a> in Scientific Advances<\/em> in October 2023 and led by Dr. Pankaj Karande.<\/p>\n December 21, 2022<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n I am updating this post due to several new studies on 3D bioprinting of hair follicles.<\/p>\n Also make sure to read my past tissue engineering of hair follicles<\/a> post covering work from Dr. Angela Christiano\u2019s team at Columbia University. It is also summarized in the below 2019 video:<\/p>\n The most exciting work in this area of 3D printed hair (and skin) involves the partnership between Poietis, L\u2019Or\u00e9al and BASF<\/a>. Even after years of reading about 3D bioprinting and watching many videos on the subject, it still seems like science fiction to me. However, this is definitely not fiction, and the basic technology has already existed and been used in people for over a decade.<\/p>\n Dr. Anthony Atala (a pioneer who I have mentioned a few times on this blog) has two extremely popular<\/a> TED Talk videos on this subject from 2010 and 2011. At the time, Dr. Atala\u2019s work was also well covered in this article<\/a>. More recently, Dr. Atala has been working with NASA to print artificial organs in space.<\/p>\n While we are most interested in cellular level 3D hair follicle bioprinting and transplantation, there also exist other uses of 3D printers that involve hair. Methods that make use of synthetic materials and do not entail any kind of complicated scaffolds and culturing.<\/p>\n The first of these was not widely covered, but since it involves researchers from MIT, I give it precedence. These scientists are part of the MIT Tangible Media Group, led by Dr. Hiroshi Ishii, and their project is called Cillia<\/a>. Note that they do not discuss the human scalp whatsoever, and they are using bitmap technology to print this hair<\/a> rather than any kind of actual cells.<\/p>\n The futurism website has a much more detailed article on the subject<\/a>. Make sure to also see the work from Carnegie Mellon University for creating lifelike hair fibers<\/a> using a fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer.<\/p>\n Hair systems and prosthesis are not exactly what me have in mind when we discuss 3D printed hair. However, Italian company CRLAB (previously Cesare Ragazzi)<\/a> has received tremendous publicity in recent years for its CNC 3D printed hair and scalp prosthesis systems.<\/p>\n You can watch a Lab Tour video<\/a> of the company to learn more. Their work was even covered on 3dprint.com<\/a> in 2016. The company\u2019s technology is essentially an attempt at making a much better wig\/hairpiece\/hair system\/toupee than anything that is in existence today. With far less expensive and frequent maintenance requirements. Plus a superior individualized fit (scalp mapping). The technology is based on CNC systems that are being sold around the world by Cesare Ragazzi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
3D-Printed Skin Closes Wounds and Contains Hair Follicle Precursors<\/h3>\n
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3D Bioprinting of Hair Follicles within Skin<\/h2>\n
![\"3D](\"https:\/\/www.hairlosscure2020.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/3D-Printing-Hair.jpg\")
New Studies on 3D Bioprinting of Hair Follicles<\/h3>\n
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![\"3D](\"https:\/\/www.hairlosscure2020.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/3D-Bioprinting-Hair-Scaffold.png\")
<\/a>Poietis, L\u2019Or\u00e9al, BASF and Dr. Atala<\/h3>\n
3D Printed Hair and Hair Systems<\/strong><\/h3>\n
MIT Media Group\u2019s Cillia: 3D Printed Hair<\/h4>\n
CRLAB (Cesare Ragazzi): 3D Printed CNC Hair System<\/h4>\n