摘要：Purpos.: s.lective las.r s.ntering (s.s. is.a rapid pro- totyping technique applied to produce tis.ue-engineer- ing s.affolds.from powder materials. The s.andard s.anning technique, however, often produces.s.ruts.of extens.ve thicknes., which means.fabrication of high- ly porous.s.affolds.with s.all overall dimens.ons.is.quite difficult. Nevertheles., this.s.udy aims.to overcome this.s.ortfall. Des.gn/methodology/approach: To this.end, three s.anning methods.were evaluated in terms.of minimum feature s.ze and freedom of des.gn, us.ng a tes. polyamide (PA) material. Polycaprolactone (PCL) was.then employed to create highly porous.3D s.affolds.us.ng the preferred s.anning me- thod to produce thin s.ruts. Findings. While in normal s.anning mode s.me features.were well above the las.r s.ot diameter, s.rut thicknes.es.below the las.r s.ot diameter were achieved when us.ng the “outline s.an” function for PA material. Thos. achieved for PCL were s.ightly higher and in the 500-800 ?m range, with an average pore s.ze of 400 μm. Inves.igations.on the properties.of the s.affolds.revealed an effective compres.ion modulus.of the PCL s.affold of 6.5 MPa. Furthermore, there was.no change in phys.cal or che- mical properties.when the s.affolds.were s.ored in a phys.ological environment for 7 weeks. Originality/ value: Though s.s.is.cons.dered as.a fabrication te- chnique for tis.ue engineering s.affolds. actually pro- duced s.affolds.did not comply with poros.ty requirements.and limitations.of the s.s.proces. in produ- cing features.at the s.ze of the las.r beam s.ot have not been dis.us.ed. The pres.nt paper s.ows.the capabilities.of the s.s.proces. bas.d on two materials.and pres.nts.a method to minimize feature s.ze in s.affolds.