Patent ID: 8071007

Claim:
A method for fabricating a scaffold structure having interconnected channels for use in tissue engineering using fused deposition modeling (FDM), the method comprising: forming a plurality of horizontal layers of a scaffold by depositing sequential layers of scaffold material under conditions sufficient to adhere each sequential layer to the adjacent layer, wherein each layer is formed by depositing raster roads of melt extrusion filament material selected from polycaprolactone (PCL), a polycaprolactone/hydroxyapatite (PCL/HA) composite, or a polycaprolactone/tricalcium phosphate (PCL/TCP) composite, wherein a fill gap between each raster road provides a horizontal channel, wherein the ratio of the raster road width to the channel width is constant in each layer, wherein the each sequential layer is deposited at a different raster angle, and wherein deposition of sequential layers at different raster angles produces a consistent pore size in the scaffold, thereby producing a scaffold having interconnected channels.