Bioactive calcium phosphates and nanocomposite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

Abstract

For their use in human body tissue repair, synthetic bioactive calcium phosphates (Ca-P, including bioactive apatites), which are mainly developed for hard tissue replacement, have been under intensive as well as extensive investigations worldwide over the past three decades. Tissue engineering, as a promising means for human tissue repair, emerged two decades ago. Tissue engineering requires the use of (different) cells and the provision initially of an appropriate microenvironment for the cells to attach and proliferate, leading to the formation of new tissue. In scaffold-based bone tissue engineering, biodegradable, three-dimensional porous scaffolds are a key requirement. Synthetic hydroxyapatite or bioactive Ca-P nanoparticles can be incorporated in biodegradable polymers to form scaffolds, imparting scaffolds with osteoconductivity and hence enhancing bone formation. Processes have been developed for synthesizing Ca-P nanoparticles and various methods have been employed to fabricate nanocomposite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. The influencing factors were also studied.