Current status of additive manufacturing for tissue engineering scaffold

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the current status of additive manufacturing (AM) used for tissue engineering (TE) scaffold. AM processes are identified as an effective method for fabricating geometrically complex objects directly from computer models or three-dimensional digital representations. The use of AM technologies in the field of TE has grown rapidly in the past 10 years.

Design/methodology/approach

The processes, materials, precision, applications of different AM technologies and their modified versions used for TE scaffold are presented. Additionally, future directions of AM used for TE scaffold are also discussed.

Findings

There are two principal routes for the fabrication of scaffolds by AM: direct and indirect routes. According to the working principle, the AM technologies used for TE scaffold can be generally classified into: laser-based; nozzle-based; and hybrid. Although a number of materials and fabrication techniques have been developed, each AM technique is a process based on the unique property of the raw materials applied. The fabrication of TE scaffolds faces a variety of challenges, such as expanding the range of materials, improving precision and adapting to complex scaffold structures.

Originality/value

This review presents the latest research regarding AM used for TE scaffold. The information available in this paper helps researchers, scholars and graduate students to get a quick overview on the recent research of AM used for TE scaffold and identify new research directions for AM in TE.

Citation

Li, Y., Li, D., Lu, B., Gao, D. and Zhou, J. (2015), "Current status of additive manufacturing for tissue engineering scaffold", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 21 No. 6, pp. 747-762. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-03-2014-0029