Characterization of the 3D microstructure of nanofibrous scaffolds

In this application note, ZEISS discusses the requirement of designing an extracellular matrix-like scaffold with high surface-area-to-volume ratio and high porosity for promoting homogeneous cell attachment and proliferation throughout the scaffold in order to regenerate damaged tissue via nanofibrous scaffolds. Zeiss successfully applied Xradia 810 Ultra to characterize the morphology of electrospun gelatin fibers to understand the effect of fiber cross-linking on the gelatin mat morphology. Xradia Ultra 810 is a laboratory-based 3D X-ray microscope that enables non-destructive tomography with a resolution better than 100 nm for biopolymer samples without requiring any special sample preparation protocol.