3D bioprinting and mesenchymal stem cells: A bibliometric analysis of emerging trends and advancements

Recent years have witnessed rapid advancements in 3D bioprinting and the widespread application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) across various medical disciplines. The synergistic integration of 3D bioprinting and MSCs has opened innovative avenues for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, particularly in bone tissue repair and regeneration. However, the progress of 3D bioprinting in the field of MSCs research still requires further exploration, and there remains a scarcity of related bibliometric analyses in this domain. With the aim of addressing this existing gap, this research systematically searched the Web of Science Core Collection for publications spanning from January 2003 to October 2025. It employed CiteSpace for cluster and evolution analysis, VOSviewer for collaboration network and keyword co-occurrence analysis, and the R package "bibliometrix" for statistical evaluation of bibliometric indicators. This bibliometric analysis focused on tissue engineering research integrating 3D bioprinting with MSCs, encompassing 1,846 original articles. These articles were authored by 10,276 researchers from 2,024 institutions across 69 countries and published in 342 academic journals. From 2014 to 2023, the number of annual publications exhibited a fluctuating yet rapid upward trend. China and the United States emerged as the most influential countries, with China experiencing a particularly substantial increase in research output-though international collaborations among institutions and authors remained limited. Wu C.T. and Bose S. stood out as key contributors to this field, while journals such as Biomaterials and Biofabrication have significantly advanced the discipline. High-frequency keywords including "3D printing" and "tissue engineering" reflected the core research directions, whereas emerging terms such as "MSC-EVs" and "nanocomposites" indicated current frontiers; in addition, "bioink," "3D scaffold," "osteogenesis," and "angiogenesis" represented areas gaining growing research attention. Overall, this bibliometric study provides a thorough overview of the research tendencies and developments related to 3D bioprinting in the MSC field.