Popis: |
There are numerous clinical indications for bone grafts. The ideal graft material should favor bone apposition and growth while simultaneously being degraded by body fluids and cells. Ultimately, the material should be replaced by mature bone tissue within a healing period of weeks. Because autologous and allogenic bone grafts fulfill some of these requirements, these biological materials are routinely used by clinicians. However, biological materials have intrinsic limitations. Harvesting autologous bone requires a second surgical site, which can cause complications, the material is limited in quantity, and it may lead to immunogenic rejection or transfer certain pathogens and viruses [1-3]. For these reasons, researchers and clinicians have developed synthetic bone substitutes. Our approach has focused on composite biomaterials that combine bioceramics with hydrogels to replace and regenerate bone tissue in osseous defects. |