Net Shape Nonwoven: a novel technique for porous three-dimensional nonwoven hybrid scaffolds

Textile structures made of biocompatible, osteoconductive and resorbable chitosan-filaments provide excellent preconditions as scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering applications. The novel Net Shape Nonwoven (NSN) technique that enables short fibers to be processed into three-dimensional net-shaped nonwoven structures with adjustable pore size distributions is described. NSN scaffolds made of pure chitosan fibers were fabricated. NSN hybrid scaffolds for improved initial cell adhesion were realized by combining the NSN technique with electrospinning and dip-coating with collagen, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy and liquid displacement porosimetry revealed an interconnecting open porous scaffold structure. The novel chitosan-hybrid scaffolds provide proper conditions for adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of the seeded human bone marrow stromal cells, proving that they are suitable for usage in hard-tissue regeneration.