Fabrication methods of porous metals for use in orthopaedic applications

Porous magnesium-based scaffolds for tissue engineering

“…An ideal bone tissue engineering scaffold must be biocompatible, osteoconductive, and biodegradable, with a high mechanical strength to fulfil the necessary loadbearing functions [8]. Also, it must have interconnected porous networks allowing cell migration, vascularization and nutrient delivery [16]. The challenge to achieve the abovementioned properties in existent scaffolds, has made bone tissue engineering a very popular research field in the last decade in regards to the material selections and production techniques [13,17].…”

“…Although ceramics have shown outstanding corrosion properties, their inherent brittleness makes them difficult to be used for load bearing applications [16]. Porous polymeric scaffolds cannot resist the high mechanical stresses present in bone replacement operations [16].…”

“…Although ceramics have shown outstanding corrosion properties, their inherent brittleness makes them difficult to be used for load bearing applications [16]. Porous polymeric scaffolds cannot resist the high mechanical stresses present in bone replacement operations [16]. This has led researchers to study porous metals, based on orthopaedic metallic implants, due to their greater compressive strength, fracture toughness, and fatigue resistance, which are needed for load-bearing applications [6,16].…”

Functionalization of Microstructured Open-Porous Bioceramic Scaffolds with Human Fetal Bone Cells

“…38,39 Alumina ceramics, including porous alumina allows the attachment, growth and differentiation of bone cells, the materials grain microstructure being important for cell behavior, including for a human bone-derived cell line. [5][6][7] The surface reactivity of bioactive glass ceramics and the sintering process were shown to affect interaction with human osteoblasts, and ultimately their bone integration potential. 40 In order to develop a permanent bone replacement, which displays an open-porous microstructure allowing the establishment of a continuous cellular network of bone-derived cells, we developed a different methodology based on calcium aluminate scaffolds produced from a recently modified direct foaming method.…”

“…To obtain a physical support for permanent artificial bone tissue, synthetic, porous scaffolds must therefore be produced from inert biocompatible materials, such as alumina or titanium. [5][6][7] To develop permanent implants which have been engineered with human bone cells prior to implantation for the repair of human bone defects, histocompatibility problems of the cells of the implant with the recipient of the graft must also be considered. Human fetal cells have an interesting potential for therapeutic use for tissue engineering and regeneration, including bone tissue engineering, due to their rapid growth rate and their ability to differentiate in vitro into mature cells as well as their histocompatibility, 8,9 eliminating the need for anti-graft rejection medication of the patients.…”