Structural Assessment of Microsphere-Based Tissue Engineered Scaffold from Poly(Lactic Acid)/ß-Tricalcium Phosphate

Abstract

The addition of b-tricalcium phosphate improves the biocompatibility and the bioactivity of scaffolds made from poly(lactic acid)(PLA). In this paper, a developed method was used to prepare poly(lactic acid)/ b-tricalcium phosphate microsphere-based tissue engineered scaffolds. It was found that the porosity and the compressive modulus of the scaffolds increased with increasing stirring time. The PLA scaffolds with a higher strength and porosity could be obtained under the optimum conditions (i.e., 2.0 g of PLA, 0.2 g of b-tricalcium phosphate, 300 rpm, stirring time for 2h ). In addition, the corresponding mechanism has been discussed.