Fabrication of three dimensional polymeric scaffolds with spherical pores

This paper reports polymeric scaffolds with spherical internal macropores and relatively large external dimension. Paraffin spheres with the diameter of several hundred microns were prepared by a suspension technique. Particulate leaching technique based on this kind of spherical porogens was combined with room-temperature compression molding technique to fabricate biodegradable poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) porous scaffolds potentially for tissue engineering or in situ tissue induction. The scaffolds exhibited ordered macropores with good pore interconnectivity. The porosity ranged from 80 to 97% adjusted simply by varying porogen content. The foams with porosity around 90% have compressive modulus over 3 MPa and compressive strength over 0.2 MPa. As preliminary cell experiments with 3T3 fibroblasts cultured on the porous scaffolds indicate, the processing procedure of the scaffolds has not brought with problem in cytotoxicity.