Fabrication, Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry Characterization and In Vitro Qualitative Analysis of Biocompatibility of Various Porosities Polycaprolactone Scaffolds

In order to develop surfaces with improved cell culture biocompatibility, we optimized a solvent-casting and particulate-leaching fabrication technique to create porous three-dimensional polycaprolactone scaffolds. These biocompatible porous surfaces were realized by means of NaCl particles as porogen; salt leaching by immersion in distilled water created porosity and pore interconnectivity in the material. Scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry were used for the measurement of porosity, pore size distribution, permeability and compressibility. To evaluate scaffold biocompatibility, fibroblasts were cultured on the porous surfaces and confocal immunofluorescence characterization indicated that they were effective for in vitro cell culture and practical tissue engineering applications.