140 Int. J. Rapid Manufacturing, Vol. 4, Nos. 2/3/4, 2014 Copyright © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Fabrication of biodegradable, porous scaffolds using a low-cost 3D printer Philipp Drescher*, Sebastian Spath and Hermann Seitz University of Rostock, Fluid Technology and Microfluidics, Justus-von-Liebig Weg 6, 18059 Rostock, Germany Fax: +49 381 498 9092 E-mail: philipp.drescher@uni-rostock.de E-mail: sebastian.spatz@outlook.com E-mail: hermann.seitz@uni-rostock.de *Corresponding author Abstract: A low-cost 3D printer was used to generate porous biopolymer scaffolds. Scaffolds with various interconnected pores were designed and built on an open-source fused deposition modelling (FDM) system ‘RepRap Mendel’. The scaffolds were analysed in accordance with feasibility, geometrical accuracy, and quality. REM images were taken for visual investigation and the results were qualitatively compared with industrial FDM systems. The results have shown that highly porous scaffolds with different pore geometries and sizes can be achieved with a low-cost printer. This paper also describes the potential application for the manufacture of scaffolds with a low-cost FDM machine and its limitations. Keywords: additive manufacturing; FDM; fused deposition modelling; low-cost; biopolymer; scaffolds. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Drescher, P., Spath, S. and Seitz, H. (2014) ‘Fabrication of biodegradable, porous scaffolds using a low-cost 3D printer’, Int. J. Rapid Manufacturing, Vol. 4, Nos. 2/3/4, pp.140–147. Biographical notes: Philipp Drescher studied Biomedical Engineering and Structural Engineering at the University of Rostock, Germany, and received his diploma in 2010. As of 2011, he is a Scientific Assistant at the University of Rostock. Currently he is working on new materials for the use in an additive manufacturing method with an electron beam melting system. He has published in international congress proceedings and journals in the fields of engineering applications, additive manufacturing, and nanotechnology. Sebastian Spath studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Rostock and received his diploma in 2006 for his diploma thesis in the field of automation technology. Since January 2007, he works as Scientific Assistant at Fluid Technology and Microfluidics. Here he dealt with the manufacturing process for production of patient individual implants. In 2014 he received his PhD and is now working at TRIOPTICS GmbH in Hamburg, Germany. Hermann Seitz studied Electrical Engineering at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, and received his diploma in 1997. From 1997 to 2001,