Biodegradable microfluidic scaffolds for tissue engineering from amino alcohol-based poly(ester amide) elastomers

Biodegradable polymers with high mechanical strength, flexibility and optical transparency, optimal degradation properties and biocompatibility are critical to the success of tissue engineered devices and drug delivery systems. Most biodegradable polymers suffer from a short half-life due to rapid degradation upon implantation, exceedingly high stiffness, and limited ability to functionalize the surface with chemical moieties. This work describes the fabrication of microfluidic networks from poly(ester amide), poly(1,3-diamino-2-hydroxypropane-co-polyol sebacate) (APS), a recently developed biodegradable elastomeric polymer. Microfluidic scaffolds constructed from APS exhibit a much lower Young's modulus and a significantly longer degradation half-life than those of previously reported systems. The device is fabricated using a modified replica-molding technique, which is rapid, inexpensive, reproducible and scalable, making the approach ideal for both rapid prototyping and manufacturing of tissue engineering scaffolds.