by P. J. S. Bártolo
Institute for Polymers and Composites, Department
of Mechanical Engineering,
School of Technology and Management, Leiria Polytechnic
Institute, Portugal.
pbartolo@estg.ipleiria.pt
Abstract: Tissue engineering
is an interdisciplinary field involving the combined
efforts of cell biologists, engineers, material
scientists, mathematicians and geneticists towards
the development of biological substitutes to restore,
maintain, or improve tissue functions. It has
emerged as a rapidly expanding field to address
the organ shortage problem.
Advanced rapid prototyping techniques
are now developing to fabricate scaffolds with
controlled architecture for tissue engineering.
These techniques combine computer-aided design
(CAD) with computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
tools to produce three-dimensional structures
layer-by-layer in a multitude of materials.
The concept of tissue engineering
assisted by computer is introduced in this paper.
Different rapid prototyping techniques for tissue
engineering are described and their advantages
and disadvantages discussed with great detail.
