Micro-injection molded, poly(vinyl alcohol)-calcium salt templates for precise customization of 3D hydrogel internal architecture.

In tissue engineering applications, sacrificial molding of hydrogel monoliths is a versatile technique for creating 3D molds to control tissue morphology. Previous sacrificial templates fabricated by serial processes such as solvent casting and thermal extrusion/fiber drawing can be used to effectively mold internal geometries within rapidly polymerizing, bulk curing hydrogels. However, they display poorer performance in controlling the geometry of diffusion limited, ionically cross-linked hydrogels, such as alginate.