Recent advances in natural polymer-based hydroxyapatite scaffolds: Properties and applications

Abstract New materials that mimic natural bone properties, matching functional, mechanical, and biological properties have been continuously developed to rehabilitate bone defects. Desirably, ‘tissue engineering’ has been a multidisciplinary ground that uses the principles of life sciences and engineering for the biological replacements that restore or replace the tissue function or a whole organ. Nevertheless, the bone grafting treatment has numerous restrictions, counting the major hazards of morbidity from the sites where donor bone grafts are removed, the likelihood for an immune rejection or bacterial transport from the donor site (in case of allogeneic grafting), and the inadequate availability of donor bone grafts that can meet the current demands. Since the proper growth of synthetic materials for implantable bones encourages the reconstruction of bone tissues by providing strong structural support without any damages to the interferences of biological tissue. To serve for such behavior, the biodegradable matrices provide temporary scaffolds within which the bone tissues can be regenerated. Typically, the thermoplastic aliphatic polyesters are found to serve this purpose. The great significance of this field lies in the in vitro growth of precise cells on porous matrices (scaffolds) to generate three-dimensional (3D) tissues that can be entrenched into the location of tissue/bone damage. Numerous gifts have been gifted by our nature to advance and preserve the well-being of all living things either directly or indirectly. This review focuses on the recent advances in polymer-based hydroxyapatite scaffolds including their properties and applications.