Manufacture of degradable polymeric scaffolds for bone regeneration.
Many innovative technology platforms for promoting bone regeneration have been developed. A common theme among these is the use of scaffolds to provide mechanical support and osteoconduction. Scaffolds can be either ceramic or polymer-based, or composites of both classes of material. Both ceramics and polymers have their own merits and drawbacks, and a better solution may be to synergize the advantageous properties of both materials within composite scaffolds. In this current review, after a brief introduction of the anatomy and physiology of bone, different strategies of fabricating polymeric scaffolds for bone regeneration, including traditional and solid free-form fabrication, are critically discussed and compared, while focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of individual techniques.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, People's Republic of China. gez@pku.edu.cn
Zigang
Z
Ge
Zhaoxia
Z
Jin
Tong
T
Cao
D020341:Absorbable Implants; D000818:Animals; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D018786:Bone Substitutes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D016348:Osseointegration / Q000502:physiology*; D010012:Osteogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
D018786:Bone Substitutes