Advanced Biomaterials and Devices in Medicine
June 2017, Volume 4, Issue 1, pp 1–15

Polymer based scaffolds for tissue regeneration by stereolithography

A. Ronca^*, L. Ambrosio

Institute for Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials—National Research Council of Italy, Napoli, 80125, Italy

* Corresponding author: Dr. Alfredo Ronca, e-mail: alfredo.ronca@cnr.it

Abstract
Stereolithography is a rapid prototyping technique, introduced in the 1980s, that enables the realization of complex 3D structures for tissue engineering directly from a computer model. Although many other 3D printing techniques have been developed over the last decades, it has the highest fabrication accuracy and an increasing number of materials that can be processed is becoming available. In this review we present the characteristic features of the stereolithography technique and the design of polymers (of both synthetic and natural origin) with tailored structure, architecture, and functionality for stereolithography to mimic a broad range of human tissues. In addition, the use of two-photon polymerization for the production of tissue engineering scaffolds with smaller-scale features than those typical of the conventional stereolithography technology is described.

Keywords: stereolithography, rapid prototyping, biomaterials, tissue engineering, scaffolds