Advances in the application of electrohydrodynamic fabrication for tissue engineering

Abstract

Tissue engineering and cell-based therapy approaches require artificial scaffolds as extracellular matrix (ECM) and three-dimensional (3D) environment for clinically relevant cells to attach, be metabolically active and proliferate. Moreover, these constructs must possess mechanical and physical-chemical properties matched with certain implantation site. If all the required conditions are met, a tissue-engineered construct is considered as functional and will regenerate or replace the damaged tissue after implantation. In this work, we give a short overview of so-called electrohydrodynamic approach (EHD), e.g. with an application of electric field, to fabricate nano- and microstructured porous polymeric networks. This includes the application of electrospinning (networks) and electrospraying (micro- and macrospheres) to produce scaffolds and semipermeable hydrogel structures as a basis for tissue engineering and cell-based therapies.