Current Trend and New Opportunities for Multifunctional Bio-Scaffold Fabrication via High-Pressure Foaming

FANOVICH, M. ALEJANDRA; DI MAIO, ERNESTO; SALERNO, AURELIO

Journal of Functional Biomaterials

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)

Año: 2023 vol. 14

Abstract: Biocompatible and biodegradable foams prepared using the high-pressure foaming technique have been widely investigated in recent decades as porous scaffolds for in vitro and in vivotissue growth. In fact, the foaming process can operate at low temperatures to load bioactivemolecules and cells within the pores of the scaffold, while the density and pore architecture, and,hence, properties of the scaffold, can be finely modulated by the proper selection of materials andprocessing conditions. Most importantly, the high-pressure foaming of polymers is an ideal choiceto limit and/or avoid the use of cytotoxic and tissue-toxic compounds during scaffold preparation.The aim of this review is to provide the reader with the state of the art and current trend in thehigh-pressure foaming of biomedical polymers and composites towards the design and fabrication ofmultifunctional scaffolds for tissue engineering. This manuscript describes the application of the gasfoaming process for bio-scaffold design and fabrication and highlights some of the most interestingresults on: (1) the engineering of porous scaffolds featuring biomimetic porosity to guide cell behaviorand to mimic the hierarchical architecture of complex tissues, such as bone; (2) the bioactivation ofthe scaffolds through the incorporation of inorganic fillers and drugs.Keywords: scaffold; gas foaming; tissue engineering; polymer; bioactivation