Application potential of 3D food printing to improve the oral intake for immunocompromised patients: A review

Unappetizing food is referred to food that has poor characteristic such as texture, nutrition and appearance, causing poor oral intake in hospitalized patients. Poor oral intake is a cause and/or consequence of malnutrition. This symptom can result in worse clinical outcomes when happens in immunocompromised patients which refers to those who have a weakened immune system and currently being at a higher risk of severe COVID-19 out-comes, consequently increasing susceptibility to infectious pathogens, leading to a higher risk of mortality. According to these concerns, the purpose of this review is to highlight the potential of 3D food printing (3DFP) technology to improve oral intake and nutritional needs in patients, as its ability to create personalized food that matches the need of consumers. Three aspects of 3DP potential were introduced as a key potential to enhance oral intake in the patients, including the potential to create foods with a variety of textures, the potential to produce a variety of food materials, and the potential to design food appearance. In addition, challenges and specific concerns about using 3DFP in patients were also introduced.

Automated summary

This review highlights the potential of 3D food printing (3DFP) technology in improving oral intake and nutritional needs in patients, by creating personalized food with various textures, materials, and appearance. The challenges and concerns of using 3DFP in patients are also discussed.