Scaffolding design and structure/function: Advanced manufacturing

Abstract

Advanced manufacturing can be defined as the use of innovative technologies and methodologies to develop new markets and methods for existing and newly developed products, thus improving competitiveness in the manufacturing sectors. Among the emerging advanced manufacturing technologies, additive manufacturing (AM) stands out as one with great potential for its application in numerous economic fields. Of special interest is the application of AM in the biomedical sector, since these technologies are capable of imitating biological processes by manufacturing products layer by layer. In this chapter, the main features of the most widely applied AM systems on the tissue engineering field are discussed, presenting the reader their most commonly used process parameters, materials, and scaffold designs, but also their limitations. In addition, different biomedical applications of scaffolds manufactured by AM are reviewed, with special attention on the relation between the design of the porous structures and their mechanical and biological properties.