Versatile ordered porous scaffold blooming from microfluidics

The core of tissue engineering lies in three-dimensional (3D) porous scaffolds with specific shapes and pore structures, which should have suitable pore sizes, high porosity and connected pore morphology to mimic internal environment for cell settling and proliferating. Ordered porous scaffolds with uniform pore size, regular geometry, high porosity and excellent internal connectivity are conducive to purposeful guiding cell adhesion, diffusion and division, and promoting tissue repair process. However, the traditional techniques for the preparation of ordered porous scaffolds often require complex operating steps and expensive instruments. In this regard, microfluidic technology has gained prominence in the preparation of ordered porous scaffolds due to its capability to accurately control the shape and size of scaffold materials. In this review, we focus on the recent progress in the fabrication and application of ordered porous scaffolds by microfluidic technology. After concisely introducing the traditional methods for preparing porous scaffolds, the development of ordered porous scaffolds based on microfluidics is emphasized, involving single-emulsion, multi-emulsion and bubble template methods. We then enumerate the various applications of microfluidics-based ordered porous scaffolds in biomedical field, including 3D cell culture, tissue engineering, and flexible sensors. Finally, we put forward our own views on the bottleneck and future development direction of this burgeoning field.