Design and processing of starch based scaffolds for hard tissue engineering

The design and processing of appropriate porous 3-D scaffolds is one of the most important steps towards the regeneration of damaged tissues/organs using a tissue engineering approach; since most of the cell types require an adequate support in order to form the intended new tissue. TIlls work reports the development of several processing techniques that have been specifically designed for producing biodegradable scaffolds from a range of starch based polymers. The developed methods include melt based processing technologies (based on injection molding and extrusion using blowing agents), combined techniques based on solvent casting and on compression molding associated to particle leaching, It .has been possible to produce scaffolds that combine an appropriate degradation rate, with controlled porosity and adequate pore sizes, as well as tissue matching mechanical properties. Furthermore, the developed methods have no negative effect on the biocompatible behavior of the starch based polymers.