Patent ID: 11896740
Assignee: NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  B  C  Y | IPC A  C

Claim 0:
1. A method of forming a porous material system, the method comprising:
using a viscous composition comprising a solids content to form a three-dimensional object, the viscous composition comprising a viscosity of 1 pascal second or more, and the solids content comprising:
solid particles, at least some of which are water-soluble salt particles; and
a polymer, the polymer acting as a binder for holding the solid particles together;
wherein the solid particles are at least about 20 vol. % of the solids content;

after the forming the three-dimensional object, hydrating the water-soluble salt particles by exposing the three-dimensional object to a salt-hydrating solution, wherein the water-soluble salt particles are hydratable salt particles that do not dissociate but undergo an increase in volume due to hydration in the salt-hydrating solution; and
after the hydrating step, dissolving at least a portion of the hydrated, water-soluble salt particles in water, thereby forming the porous material system.