Rapid prototyping and manufacturing for tissue engineering scaffolds

The controlled fabrication of the scaffold structures for tissue engineering is becoming increasingly important as a viable vehicle in future for regenerative medicine. This paper provides a brief description of the conventional techniques used to manufacture scaffolds and the associated limitations, particularly the lack of full control of the pore morphology and architecture as well as reproducibility. Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing (RP&M) technology, based on layer-by-layer additive approach, offers a unique opportunity to overcome these limitations allowing the build of scaffold structures tailored to specific applications and ultimately individual patients. The main RP&M processes, namely stereolithography; laser sintering; extrusion and Three-Dimensional (3D) printing, are described in detail along the main research efforts deployed towards the fabrication of simple and complex 3D scaffolds.