Collagen Based Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering Applications: A Review

In the search for biomaterials that exhibit both versatility and compatibility with human-tissues, considerable interest has been shown in collagen-based biomaterial for the repair and replacement of the body tissues such as tendons, skin, vascular grafts, heart valves, dental and bones. Some of the general properties of collagen which makes it an interesting biomaterial are the high mechanical strength of the fibers, low antigenicity, its suitability as a substrate for cell growth, and its tunable stability by chemical or physical cross-linking. Collagen based composites are used in various biomedical applications as collagen shields in ophthalmology, sponges for burns and wounds, mini-pellets and tablets for protein delivery, gel formulation in combination with liposome for sustained drug delivery, as controlling material for transdermal delivery, basic matrices for cell culture systems, coating material of metal implant for bone replacement and 3-D printed matrix for various tissue engineering applications. For an adequate biomedical application of collagen, basic knowledge about collagen structure, hierarchical structural organisation and the processing technology in combination with understanding of the physico-chemical properties is of vital importance.