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International Journal of Polymer Science
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 174942, 25 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/174942
Scaffolds for Growth Factor Delivery as Applied to Bone Tissue Engineering
1Biomaterials and Tissue Morphology Group, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 60 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia
2Tissue Repair and Regeneration Program, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 60 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia
3Regenerative Medicine Group, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 60 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove, QLD 4059, Australia
Received 21 April 2012; Revised 3 September 2012; Accepted 25 September 2012
Academic Editor: Christopher Batich
Copyright © 2012 Keith A. Blackwood et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
There remains a substantial shortfall in the treatment of severe skeletal injuries. The current gold standard of autologous bone grafting from the same patient has many undesirable side effects associated such as donor site morbidity. Tissue engineering seeks to offer a solution to this problem. The primary requirements for tissue-engineered scaffolds have already been well established, and many materials, such as polyesters, present themselves as potential candidates for bone defects; they have comparable structural features, but they often lack the required osteoconductivity to promote adequate bone regeneration. By combining these materials with biological growth factors, which promote the infiltration of cells into the scaffold as well as the differentiation into the specific cell and tissue type, it is possible to increase the formation of new bone. However due to the cost and potential complications associated with growth factors, controlling the rate of release is an important design consideration when developing new bone tissue engineering strategies. This paper will cover recent research in the area of encapsulation and release of growth factors within a variety of different polymeric scaffolds.