Additive Manufacturing Techniques for Fabrication of Bone Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications

Abstract

Bone tissue engineering (BTE) as a modern and more effective treatment for bone defects has recently received lots of attention. One of the pivotal parts of BTE is the “scaffold”, which functions as an indwelling carrier of cells and additives, as well as, providing a foundation for cell growth and eventually forming new, native-like bone. Up to now, many methods and materials have been employed to manufacture bone scaffolds. This review focuses on providing both basic knowledge of BTE as well as possible methods of scaffold manufacturing. We categorize the fabrication methods into; current conventional methods and newly emerging additive manufacturing (AM) techniques. The fundamental, capabilities and limitations of each technique is investigated, and the latest achievements are presented.