Porous silicon and tissue engineering scaffolds

Abstract

Porous silicon possesses a number of favorable properties that make it relevant to the field of regenerative medicine / tissue engineering (i.e. the idea that the human body can heal itself with the assistance of a temporary scaffold). These properties include tunable scaffold dissolution based on Si nanostructure thickness/ porosity and surface chemistry; in vitro and in vivo compatibility; and facile formation of easily processible porous silicon / biocompatible polymer constructs. In this review, selected formulations of porous Si relevant to scaffold evaluation are described, followed by key tissue engineering milestones for porous silicon, and brief summaries of studies of porous silicon-containing materials with relevance to specific therapies.