ABSTRACT
Tissue engineering is a boon to medical science as an alternative for organ transplantation and related problems. Human stem cells are allowed to grow in an artificial support, which can provide nutrients for the growth of cells to produce new tissues; these mechanical support/scaffolds are the backbone of tissue engineering. Scaffolds are preparing using various biocompatible polymers and ceramics. Several features of scaffolds are considered while the preparation for obtaining excellent cell adhesion and proliferation such as biocompatibility of the material, mechanical strength, and structural integrity of scaffolds. Most of the structural features depend upon the mechanism of preparation. In general, the techniques employed for scaffold preparation are classified into two classes such as conventional methods and rapid prototyping (RP) techniques. Several conventional techniques such as solvent casting and melt molding do not need any complex machinery whereas RP techniques are sophisticated techniques using complex machineries; stereolithography and 3D bioprinting are some of the efficient RP techniques, which are capable of scaffolds with high structural properties than conventional techniques. In this chapter, we deeply discuss the recent advances in conventional and RP techniques for scaffold preparation.
