Porous Scaffold Design for Tissue Engineering

[LINKOUT: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16003400]

With burgeoning research in stem cell manipulation a concurrent shift in medical therapeutics has occurred. In place of tissue grafting or synthetic material replacement, a tissue engineering (TE) approach through which the physical and chemical properties of the scaffold guide cell behavior and ultimate tissue regeneration has become vogue. Using computation topology design (CTD) and solid-free-form fabrication (SFF) designer TE scaffolds can be produced. These next-generation scaffolds can be combined with cell printing to create an optimized 3D structure with biofactor topology.

In designing an optimal tissue scaffold, mechanical properties and mass-transport requirements must be balanced. Because the mechanisms for manipulating these factors are at odds (ex. Increasing mass transport through the introduction of macroporous morphologies is at the expense of mechanical integrity), it is critical to design and compute mechanical and mass-transport properties. This is done through mathematical analysis and computer aided design.

This article is interesting in that it presents an integrative approach towards repair of tissue morbidities. Not only must the mechanical properties of the proposed scaffold be investigated, but also the effect of scaffold properties on cell behavior. Ultimately, a TE approach may result in the creation of patient specific designer tissue replacements.