Fabrication of porous β-TCP scaffolds by combination of rapid prototyping and freeze drying technology

The scaffold with exact shape and polygradient inner structure was necessary for bone tissue engineering scaffolds to facilitate cells infiltration and proliferation. A novel method of designing and preparing bone tissue engineering scaffolds with polygradient controllable structure of both macro and micro pores was proposed in this paper. By integrating rapid prototyping and freeze drying technology, the macro and micro pores were formed respectively. The size, shape and quantity of micropores were controlled by slurry concentration. The sintered beta-TCP porous scaffolds were with connective macropores of approximately 400 mu m and micropores of 50 similar to 300 mu m. The chemical composition, porosity and mechanical properties of scaffolds were measured and analyzed. The detected results indicated that the beta-TCP scaffolds could fulfill the requirements of tissue engineering.