A technique for preparing porous polymeric scaffolds using calcined cancellous bone as template has been developed. The scaffolds prepared by this method were morphologically similar to the structure of the demineralized bone matrix (DBM), i.e. scaffolds prepared by this novel method possessed high porosity, interconnected pores and uniform pore distribution. In addition, the mechanical properties of the scaffolds prepared by this novel method were significantly improved as compared to that of the scaffolds prepared by conventional solvent cast-particle leaching (SC-PL) method. The effects of concentration of the polymer solution on the structure, porosity and mechanical properties of the scaffolds were evaluated and the results showed that the mechanical properties of the scaffolds could be controlled by adjusting the concentration of the polymer solution. The advantages mentioned above suggest that this novel method might be a useful technique to prepare polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering.