ABSTRACT
An ideal scaffold should fulfill four key characteristics. It should provide (1) adequate structural support with a suitable degradation rate; (2) modulate the cellular microenvironment; (3) encourage cellular attachment, ingrowth and tissue formation, and (4) easily exchange nutrients and waste to and from cells within the construct [40,82,91]. Researchers in TE have been making great strides in designing and fabricating TE scaffolds to satisfy these
design constraints via various nano-and microtechniques. This chapter will focus on two promising fabrication methods for microand nanofeatured TE scaffolds: electrospinning [101] and threedimensional (3D) printing [12,18]. Both methods offer a high degree of control over scaffold architecture and composition to include the incorporation of morphogenetic constituent materials. In addition to these two methods, several other scaffold fabrication techniques for the manufacture of TE scaffolds will be discussed.
