Biomaterials and Their Applications for Bone Regeneration

Bones are the hardest tissue in the human body, but they may also sustain injuries when stressed. The most common injury that can occur to bone is fractures. Bones are unique in that they can heal themselves. However, failure of healing may occur if the bone defect is large. The healing process that occurred may not be perfect; nonunion and scar formation may occur, which eventually impair the function of the bone. The elderly is prone to the incidence of falling, which may cause bone fractures. This age group of individuals, especially women who are experiencing menopause, will face delays in fracture healing. This will ultimately affect the quality of life of these individuals. This situation has led researchers to venture into bone engineering or bone regeneration in order to facilitate bone healing and induce new bone formation which can restore bone function. Bone regeneration involves the usage of the bone scaffold as a starting point for new bone formation. The scaffolds must have specific characteristics to allow new bone growth without causing adverse effects on the surrounding tissue. This chapter discusses the biomaterials that can be used in developing scaffolds for use in bone regeneration. Their characteristics (advantages and disadvantages) and modifications of the scaffold to enhance their performance are also highlighted. Their usage as a drug delivery system is also described.

Keywords: Biomaterials, Bone engineering, Bone regeneration, Drug delivery, Scaffolds.