The Role of Calcium Phosphates and Electrospun 3D Scaffolds in Bone Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

Abstract

Bone is a naturally occurring nano-composite structure bestowed with an innate regenerative potential. When this regenerative potential is not able to cope up with the bone loss, external assistance in the form of scaffolds, cells and signals are needed. This forms the basis of bone tissue engineering (BTE). CaP ceramics like hydroxyapatite (HA), calcium deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) are an excellent choice of material for hard tissue reconstruction. However, they are brittle in nature and solid ceramic constructs are not conducive for vascularisation, thus limiting their application as scaffolds for BTE. Thus composite scaffolds of appropriate polymer/ceramic combination would greatly benefit BTE. Electrospinning is an extremely versatile methodology that is predominantly used for the fabrication of nanofibrous structures that closely mimic the ECM. Nevertheless, electrospinning of 3D structures is still a challenge. Various innovations in the electrospinning process are being tried out in order to produce true 3 dimensional structures that can act as scaffolds for BTE. The current paper reviews such technologies and also suggests the way forward for research in this area.