Polylactic acid (PLA) biomedical foams for tissue engineering

Porous scaffolds based on polylactic acid (PLA) and its copolymers have been extensively used as templates for potential tissue regeneration applications. This chapter discusses the techniques involved in creating PLA-based foams, focusing on gas foaming. It also covers the structure, physical and mechanical properties of the scaffolds. It then reviews some of the applications of PLA-based foams for the engineering of soft and hard tissues. It also provides an insight into future trends in the design of PLA foams for biomedical applications. \ua9 2014 Woodhead Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye