Bio-scaffolds
are synthetic entities widely employed in bone and
soft-tissue regeneration applications. These bio-scaffolds are applied
to the defect site to provide support and favor cell attachment and
growth, thereby enhancing the regeneration of the defective site.
The progressive research in bio-scaffold fabrication has led to identification
of biocompatible and mechanically stable materials. The difficulties
in obtaining grafts and expenditure incurred in the transplantation
procedures have also been overcome by the implantation of bio-scaffolds.
Drugs, cells, growth factors, and biomolecules can be embedded with
bio-scaffolds to provide localized treatments. The right choice of
materials and fabrication approaches can help in developing bio-scaffolds
with required properties. This review mostly focuses on the available
materials and bio-scaffold techniques for bone and soft-tissue regeneration
application. The first part of this review gives insight into the
various classes of biomaterials involved in bio-scaffold fabrication
followed by design and simulation techniques. The latter discusses
the various additive, subtractive, hybrid, and other improved techniques
involved in the development of bio-scaffolds for bone regeneration
applications. Techniques involving multimaterial printing and multidimensional
printing have also been briefly discussed.
This review focuses on the advancements in additive manufacturing techniques that are utilized for fabricating bioceramic scaffolds and their characterizations leading to bone tissue regeneration. Bioscaffolds are made by mimicking the human bone structure, material composition, and properties. Calcium phosphate apatite materials are the most commonly used scaffold materials as they closely resemble live bone in their inorganic composition. The functionally graded scaffolds are fabricated by utilizing the right choice of the 3D printing method and material combinations to achieve the requirement of the bioscaffold. To tailor the physical, mechanical, and biological properties of the scaffold, certain materials are reinforced, doped, or coated to incorporate the functionality. The biomechanical loading conditions that involve flexion, torsion, and tension exerted on the implanted scaffold are discussed. The finite element analysis (FEA) technique is used to investigate the mechanical property of the scaffold before fabrication. This helps in reducing the actual number of samples used for testing. The FEA simulated results and the experimental result are compared. This review also highlights some of the challenges associated while processing the scaffold such as shrinkage, mechanical instability, cytotoxicity, and printability. In the end, the new materials that are evolved for tissue engineering applications are compiled and discussed.
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