SOLID FREEFORM FABRICATION METHOD APPLIED TO TISSUE SCAFFOLDS - Intelligent Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine - page 628

31.3 Summary
This chapter has described various 3D scaffold fabrication methods
basedonSFFtechnologies.Thesetechnologiesprovidegreatadvan-
tages over conventional scaffold fabrication methods in the control
of pore size, porosity, and interconnectivity. Because these methods
are designed and fabricated by a computer, SFF technologies have
the merit of being able to fabricate a 3D scaffold as designed, thus
enabling the standardization of 3D scaffolds. Additionally, patient-
customized scaffolds can be fabricated using these technologies.
Theimprovementofscaffoldfabricationsystemsandmedicalimage
systems such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance
imaging can lead to rapid progress; however, the development of
adequate biocompatible and biodegradable materials for each SFF
system is required for the fabrication of the scaffolds for tissue
engineering applications. It is also essential to study the interac-
tionbetweencellsandscaffoldmaterials.Therefore,futuredevelop-
ments in SFF require the design of new materials, optimal scaffold
fabricationsystems,andenhancedstudiesofcellphysiology,includ-
ing optimal cell adhesion, proliferation, and vascularization. Given
the concentration of these efforts, SFF technologies will become an
important aspect oftissue engineering research in the near future.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation
ofKorea(NRF)grantfundedbytheKoreagovernment(MEST)
(No. 2010-0018294).
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