Can Bone Tissue Engineering Contribute to Therapy Concepts after Resection of Musculoskeletal Sarcoma?
Figure 1
Schematic illustrating the interdependence of molecular weight loss and mass loss of a slow-degrading composite scaffold plotted against time. Scaffold implanted at with lower figures showing a conceptual illustration of the biological processes of bone formation over time. After implantation the scaffold is immediately filled with haematoma followed by vascularisation. New bone is formed gradually within the scaffold. As the scaffold degrades over time, there is increased bone remodelling within the implant site until the scaffold pores are entirely filled with functional bone and vascularity (partially adapted from [2]). The lower part of the figure shows the schematic visualisation of how medical-grade poly-ɛ-caprolactone/tricalcium phosphate (mPCL-TCP) degrades via long-term bioerosion processes.
