Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5
Bioactive Polymers and
Nanobiomaterials Composites for
Bone Tissue Engineering
Ferdous Khan* and Sheikh Rafi Ahmad
School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, UK
Abstract
The need for replacing or restoring the function of traumatized, diseased or lost
bone has caused the rapid advancement of bioactive polymers and bionanomate-
rials in recent years. This has lead to the development of new strategies for regen-
eration and reconstruction of bone tissue. The idea is to combine progenitor or
mature cells with biocompatible materials or scaffolds, with or without appro-
priate growth factors, to initiate repair and regeneration. Despite many develop-
ments and some breakthroughs in this very important fi eld of applied research
and development, challenges remain that need to be addressed in order to achieve
functional and mechanically competent bone growth. To achieve this goal, an
appropriate design of biocompatible materials and fabrication of scaffolds with
structural integrity are needed as a temporary support for the regeneration of liv-
ing constructs in bone tissue engineering. The polymeric biomaterials, in compari-
son to metallic and ceramic ones, offer many advantages. These include ease of
processing with complex shapes, and the prospect of fabricating materials with
a wide range of physical and mechanical properties. Amongst other advances,
ceramics and phosphate-based glasses as bionanomaterials have been found to
be an attractive strategy for bone implants. The incorporation of bionanomateri-
als into the polymer matrices also provides the added advantage of faster bone
regeneration. This chapter focuses on advancements in bioactive polymers, bion-
anomaterials and their composites as scaffold materials for bone regeneration.
Additionally, concepts, challenges, limitations and the potential of effective and
effi cient bone regeneration are addressed.
Keywords:
Bioactive polymers, nanomaterials, polymer-nanocomposites, biomi-
metic 3D scaffold, bone tissue engineering
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