Feasibility of tissue engineering scaffold fabrication using fused deposition modelling

The feasibility of fabricating three-dimensional (3-D) non-random porous scaffolds for Tissue Engineering (TE) purposes using the Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) process is investigated. The structural characteristics of FDM fabricated parts, namely, 3-D pore inter-connectivity, porosity, pore size and mechanical properties were evaluated, to determine their suitability for use as TE scaffolds. The influence of FDM process parameters on these structural characteristics is presented in this paper. From the investigations, the FDM process is found to be highly capable of providing good control and reproducibility of the desired part geometry, degree of porosity and microstructure. The high influence exerted by the FDM process parameters on the part microstructure, offers the user flexibility and ease of varying the structural characteristics of built parts to meet specific structural and functional requirements of TE scaffolds.