A Review on Manufacturing Processes of Biocomposites Based on Poly(α-Esters) and Bioactive Glass Fillers for Bone Regeneration

Abstract

The incorporation of bioactive and biocompatible fillers improve the bone cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation, thus facilitating new bone tissue formation upon implantation. During these last 20 years, those biocomposites have been explored for making complex geometry devices likes screws or 3D porous scaffolds for the repair of bone defects. This review provides an overview of the current development of manufacturing process with synthetic biodegradable poly(α-ester)s reinforced with bioactive fillers for bone tissue engineering applications. Firstly, the properties of poly(α-ester), bioactive fillers, as well as their composites will be defined. Then, the different works based on these biocomposites will be classified according to their manufacturing process. New processing techniques, particularly additive manufacturing processes, open up a new range of possibilities. These techniques have shown the possibility to customize bone implants for each patient and even create scaffolds with a complex structure similar to bone. At the end of this manuscript, a contextualization exercise will be performed to identify the main issues of process/resorbable biocomposites combination identified in the literature and especially for resorbable load-bearing applications.

Bone tissue engineering for osteointegration: Where are we now?

“…1. Afterward, bioactive glass triggers osteogenic gene expression via the release of ions and stimulates angiogenesis [25]. The chemical and physical structures of bioactive glasses could be easily diversified for the aim of application options.…”

Calcium Orthophosphate (CaPO4) Containing Composites for Biomedical Applications: Formulations, Properties, and Applications

“…Therefore, the degradation rate of PLGA can be modified by adjusting the amounts of two-component monomers. In orthopedic applications, this can enable the creation of materials that degrade in sync with bone growth [117]. The varying degradation timeframes present a range of possibilities for biomedical applications.…”

“…In the case of CaPO 4 biocomposites with metals, a powder metallurgy approach [201,202] combining direct ink writing with liquid pressure infiltration [203], as well as various types of additive manufacturing [204,205], can be used. The details of various production methods are well described in other publications [22,37,117,170,171]. Furthermore, additional types of preparation techniques are briefly mentioned below when describing the individual CaPO 4 -based formulations.…”

Influence of Dry-Mixing and Solvent Casting Blending Techniques on the Mechanical and Biological Behavior of Novel Biocompatible Poly(ε-caprolactone)/Alumina-Toughened Zirconia Scaffolds Obtained by 3D Printing

“…Here, three different PCL-ATZ composites varying in their filler content are considered (10,20, and 40 wt.% ATZ), and were obtained through either solvent casting with CHCl 3 or solid mixing with an impact mill and characterized mechanically and in terms of biocompatibility (cell viability). Generally, solvent casting is the most common method used for the preparation of composites to be used for 3D printing [20,21]. This is because solvent mixing offers good dispersion of the filler in the polymer matrix and final powder uniformity for feeding the printer.…”