Modification of the freeze-drying process as a method of the scaffold fabrication for use in the skin tissue engineering

Tissue engineering scaffolds are extensively used as threedimensional analogs for the extracellular matrix (ECM). The engineered scaffolds may provide suitable pore structurewithin a three-dimensional structure. Adequate pore size as well as a uniformly distributed, interconnected pore structureand sufficient porosity are needed for cell adhesion and ECM regeneration. To create such a porous structure, diverse methods of fabrication such as freeze-drying, electrospinning, emulsion templating and rapid prototyping have been applied [1]. Freeze-drying has been utilized as a popular method tofabricate gelatin-chitosan scaffolds for the skin regeneration [2]. However, the conventional freeze-drying methodproduces a gross heterogeneous microstructure. In this work, we seek to obviate the drawbacks of the freeze-drying method to reach a uniform and homogeneous porous microstructure