A review on scaffolds used in tissue engineering and various fabrication techniques

Abstract

Developments in the field of tissue engineering has replaced the earlier practice of allograft transplantation by modern approaches like tissue engineering using scaffolds. This has eliminated the occurence of GVHD, which generally occurs in patients who have received tissue grafts. Scaffolds can be fabricated from various materials like hydrogels, natural polymers, hydroxapatite, etc, depending on the tissue to be engineered. They can be engineered using various techniques such as rapid prototyping, electrospinning, etc. Scaffolds of appropriate porosity, fabricated from biocompatible materials can increase the efficiency of cell proliferation. Scaffolds have been used in the fabrication of bone ,cartilage, muscle, neural and skin tissues. They can be seeded with various types of cells such as fibrobalsts, osteoblasts, etc depending on the tissue of interest.