this invention provides molded , biodegradable porous polymeric implant materials having a pore size distribution throughout the material which is substantially uniform . these materials can be molded into implants of any desired size and shape without loss of uniformity of pore size distribution . the implants are useful as biodegradable scaffolds for cell growth in healing of tissue defects . when manufactured to have an aspect ratio greater than about 3 , the implants can be further hand - shaped to fit the defect into which they are placed and the desired shape for the regrown tissue .