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Material Measurement Laboratory / Biosystems and Biomaterials Division

Biomaterials Group

Reference Scaffolds

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NOTE: The NIST reference scaffolds have been discontinued due to lack of use. This page is an archive and is no longer current. 

Reference Material Scaffolds: Reference material scaffolds have been developed to enhance comparability of scaffold measurements made in different labs.

 

Example bar chart showing measurements of different scaffolds for cell culture compared to NIST reference material scaffolds RM8394. Measurements of scaffold developed by Company A and scaffold developed by Company B differ. Control measurements of the NIST RM8394 by Companies A and B are the same. Details in image caption.
How Do You Use Reference Scaffolds? If two different labs run the NIST reference scaffolds as a control in their tests, then scaffold measurements from different labs can be compared. The y-axis may be a scaffold measurement such as cell adhesion.

Link to Archived Reference Scaffolds: RM8394 Scaffolds for Cell Culture Certificate (PDF)

These are freeform fabricated scaffolds that fit into a 96-well plate for cell culture experiments. A unit is 24 scaffolds that have been structurally characterized and for which the cell responses of cell adhesion and proliferation have been measured. The reference scaffold plate can be run as a control in cell culture experiments to serve as a comparison point between different labs.

 

NIST reference material scaffolds RM8394 for cell culture contain a 96-well plate with 24 scaffolds. 3D X-ray tomography shows crosshatched structure of RM8394. Fluorescence micrograph of MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts cultured 1 day on RM8394 shows cell growth in the NIST scaffold with many cell nuclei and actin.
Left: Reference material scaffolds RM8394 for cell culture. One unit is a 96-well plate with 24 scaffolds. RM8394 has nominal strut diameter 300 μm, nominal strut spacing 500 μm and porosity 60%. Middle: 3D X-ray tomograph of RM8394. Right: Fluorescence micrograph of MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts cultured 1 d on RM8394. Red staining is actin and green staining is the nucleus.

Contact: mmlinfo [at] nist.gov (mmlinfo[at]nist[dot]gov) 

Former Contributor: Carl Simon

Bioscience, Biomanufacturing, Biomaterials, Biometrology, Biofabrication, Health, Cell and gene therapy, Regenerative medicine and advanced therapy and Additive manufacturing
Created May 24, 2016, Updated March 18, 2025