Bridges were fabricated using a sacrificial template variation(J. Li, T. A. Rickett, & R. Shi, 2009 (link)) of the gas foaming/particulate leaching technique, as previously described(A. Thomas et al., 2013 (link); H. M. Tuinstra et al., 2012 (link)). Briefly, PLG (75:25 lactide:glycolide; i.v. 0.76 dL/g; Lakeshore Biomaterials, Birmingham, AL, USA) was dissolved in dichloromethane (6% w/w) and emulsified in 1% poly (ethylene-alt-maleic anhydride) using a homogenizer (PolyTron 3100; Kinematica AG, Littau, Switzerland) to create microspheres (z-average diameter ~1μm). D-sucrose (Sigma Aldrich), D-glucose (Sigma Aldrich), and dextran MW 100,000 (Sigma Aldrich) were mixed at a ratio of 5.3:2.5:1 respectively by mass. The mixture was caramelized, cooled, and drawn from solution with a Pasteur pipette to make sugar fibers. Fibers were drawn to 150 – 250 μm, coated with a 1:1 mixture of PLG microspheres and salt (63–106 μm) and pressed into a salt-lined aluminum mold. The sugar strands were used to create 7 channels and the salt create a porous structure. The materials were then equilibrated with CO2 gas (800 psi) for 16 h and then gas foamed in a custom-made pressure vessel. Bridges were subsequently cut into 2.25 mm sections and leached for 2 h to remove porogen. The bridges are dried overnight and stored in a desiccator.