Driving the field of micro computed tomography toward more quantitative, rather than qualitative, approaches, we here present a new evaluation method, which uses the unique linear relationship between gray values and x-ray attenuation coefficients, together with the energy-dependence of the latter, to identify (i) the average x-ray energy used in the CT device, (ii) the x-ray attenuation coefficients, and (iii), via the x-ray attenuation average rule, the intravoxel composition, i.e., the microporosity, which, amongst others, governs the voxel-specific mechanical properties, such as stiffness and strength. The method is realized for six 3D tricalcium phosphate scaffolds, seeded with pre-osteoblastic cells and differentiated for 3, 6, and 8 weeks, respectively. The corresponding voxel-specific microporosities turn out to increase during the culturing period (resulting in reduced elastic properties, as determined from micromechanical considerations), while the overall macroporosity remains constant. The new methods are expected to further foster the development of a rationally based and computer-aided design of biomaterials and tissue engineering scaffolds.

Microcellular injection molding, a process capable of mass-producing complex plastic parts, and particle leaching methods were combined to fabricate porous thermoplastic polyurethane tissue engineering scaffolds. Water soluble polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) and sodium chloride (NaCl) were used as porogens to improve the porosity and interconnectivity as well as the hydrophilicity of the scaffolds. It was found in the study that the microcellular injection molding process was effective at producing high pore density and porosity. The addition of PVOH decreased the pore diameter and increased the pore density. Furthermore, scaffolds with NaCl and PVOH porogens showed more interconnected pores. The 3T3 fibroblast cell culture was used to confirm the biocompatibility of the scaffolds. Residual PVOH content after leaching increased the hydrophilicity of the scaffolds and further improved cell adhesion and proliferation. The resulting scaffolds offer an alternative scalable tissue scaffold fabrication method for soft tissue scaffold production.