Rutgers University and National Institute of Standards and Technology researchers said they found the technique -- an advance over flat, two-dimensional screening methods -- enables rapid assessment of the bio-compatibility and other properties of materials designed for repairing or even rebuilding damaged tissues and organs.

In what they said might be a first, the scientists demonstrated how to screen cell material interactions in a biologically representative, but systematically altered, 3-D environment. They said the pivotal step was their success in making so-called libraries of miniature porous scaffolds that are bone-like in structure, but vary incrementally in chemical composition.

Knowing how changes in scaffold ingredients influence cell responses, researchers can devise strategies for developing biomaterials optimized for particular therapies and treatments, they said.

The complex research led by NIST biomaterial scientist Carl Simon appears in the journal Advanced Materials.