Foaming technology of tissue engineering scaffolds - a review

Tissue engineering combines isolated functional cells and a biodegradable biomaterial to promote the regeneration of repair diseased or injured tissues. A highly porous scaffold plays a critical role in accommodating cells and guiding their growth and tissue regeneration in three dimensions. Although the ideal porous structure that promotes vasculature and tissue ingrowth has not been determined, an increasing body of research data have suggested that a pore size of ∼300 μm or more might be necessary for the cell seeding efficiency and the homogeneity of the tissue engineered. In the last two decades, a number of foaming techniques have been developed to fabricate highly interconnective, porous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. This review provides an update on the progress of foaming technology of biomaterials, including polymeric, ceramic and composite materials. Each technique has its advantages, but none can be considered as an ideal method of scaffold fabrication to be employed for all t...