Cellular materials as porous scaffolds for tissue engineering

A major goal of tissue engineering is to synthesize or regenerate tissues and organs. Today, this is done by providing a synthetic porous scaffold, or matrix, which mimics the body's own extracellular matrix, onto which cells attach, multiply, migrate and function. Porous scaffolds are currently being developed for regeneration of skin, cartilage, bone, nerve and liver. The microstructures of many porous scaffolds ressemble that of an engineering foam. In this paper, we describe the microstructural requirements for porous scaffolds, review several processes for making them and show typical microstructures. Clinical studies have found that a collagen-based scaffold for skin regeneration reduces wound contraction during the healing process, reducing scar formation. The process of wound contraction is not well understood. Here, we describe the measurement of contraction of collagen-based scaffolds by fibroblasts in vitro using a cell force monitor.