The importance of applying the (physical, mechanical or chemical) gradient
for the development of porous scaffolds is undeniable in tissue engineering. Gradient
scaffolds enable us to engineer heterogeneous interfacial tissues, to mimic the natural
microenvironment of cells, Extra Cellular Matrix (ECM) alignment and clustering the
cells. Therefore, they can properly realize the biomimetic approach. Such scaffolds are
suitable to create functional tissues through the incorporation of physical and chemical
signal gradients. Additionally, using the gradient structures, high throughput screening
of cell-scaffold interactions becomes possible for optimization of scaffold design
parameters and prevention of errors during the experiments. Thus, in this chapter, we
aim to first introduce different types of gradients and then discuss the production
techniques of the gradient scaffolds.
Keywords: Bioactive agent release, Fibrous scaffold, Gradient, Mechanical
properties, Porosity, Pore size, Surface treatment.