Fabrication of Biodegradable Polymer Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

Publisher Summary A large variety of processes have been applied to manufacture scaffolds. However, there is no universal technique to produce scaffolds for the regeneration of all tissues. Often the requirements for a desired scaffold dictate the method of processing and the type of material used. This is dependent on the shape of a scaffold, the pore structure, a required degradation rate, drug delivery purposes, or the mechanical properties. In addition, different kinds of tissues require different scaffolds. For the repair of hard and brittle tissue, such as bone, scaffolds need to have a high elastic modulus to maintain the space designated to them and provide the tissue with enough space for growth. If scaffolds are used as a temporary load-bearing device, they should be strong enough to maintain that load for the required time without showing any symptoms of fatigue failure. Used in combination with soft tissues, the flexibility and the stiffness of the scaffold have to be within the same order of magnitude as the surrounding tissues in order to prevent the scaffold from either breaking or collapsing. The choice of a scaffold-processing technique is therefore a question of assessing critical requirements for each application of such scaffolds. However, many challenges remain in the fabrication of high load-bearing scaffolds, scaffolds with high flexibility, and the incorporation and delivery of drugs, bioactive molecules, and cells to stimulate and enhance the growth of a specific tissue.