Biomimetic composites consisting of organic polymer and inorganic mineral components, resembling bone in structure and composition, have been used successfully as scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. These scaffolds provide the necessary support for osteoblast cells to proliferate and maintain their differentiated function, spreading, growth and its architecture defines the ultimate shape of the newly formed bone. In the scaffolds produced by conventional techniques, the cell do not migrate more than 500 μm from surface due to lack of oxygen and nutrient supply in the interior as the pore channels are not interconnected. Solid freeform fabrication, popularly known as rapid prototyping (RP) technology brings solution for designing the scaffold with pre-defined and controlled external and internal architecture. Using indirect RP technique, a three component scaffold of wood-pile structure consisting of poly-L-lactic acid, chitosan and hydroxyapatite microspheres were produced having a macro-porosity more than 50% and also micropores in the polymer network. These scaffolds showed excellent biocompatibility and ability of 3D growth of the pre-osteoblastic cells. The MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblastic cells cultured on these scaffolds formed a network on the hydroxyapatite microspheres and proliferated not only in the macropore channels but also in the direction of the micropores in the polymer network, as seen from the histological analysis and electron microscopy. The mechanical property of these scaffolds resembled that of a cellular structure and therefore can be used for non-load bearing applications.

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