Fabrication of a three-dimensional nanofibrous scaffold with lattice pores using direct-write electrospinning

Abstract

Nanofibrous structures afford valuable functionality and performance to scaffolds in tissue engineering. As a result, electrospun nanofibers have been used as scaffold materials in various tissue regeneration techniques. However, their application to scaffolds has been limited to two-dimensional (2D) mats because of the difficulty in generating regular pores with interconnectivity, which is a critical parameter in three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds. In this study, we demonstrated a 3D nanofibrous scaffold with regular pores fabricated using a direct-write electrospinning nanofibrous pattern mat followed by stacking of the mats into a 3D structure. The fabricated 3D scaffold could be successfully used for 3D soft-tissue regeneration with significantly improved cell migration into the scaffold. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.