3D printed polymer-mineral composite biomaterials for bone tissue engineering: Fabrication and characterization

Applications in additive manufacturing technologies for bone tissue engineering applications requires the development of new biomaterials formulations. Different three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies can be used and polymers are commonly employed to fabricate 3D printed bone scaffolds. However, these materials used alone do not possess an effective osteopromotive potential for bone regeneration. A growing number of studies report the combination of polymers with minerals in order to improve their bioactivity. This review exposes the state-of-the-art of existing 3D printed composite biomaterials combining polymers and minerals for bone tissue engineering. Characterization techniques to assess scaffold properties are also discussed. Several parameters must be considered to fabricate a 3D printed material for bone repair (3D printing method, type of polymer/mineral combination and ratio) because all of them affect final properties of the material. Each polymer and mineral has its own advantages and drawbacks and numerous composites are described in the literature. Each component of these composite materials brings specific properties and their combination can improve the biological integration of the 3D printed scaffold. (c) 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 107B:2579-2595, 2019.