Delivery systems for bone growth factors - the new players in skeletal regeneration

Given the challenge of an increasing elderly population, the ability to repair and regenerate traumatised or lost tissue is a major clinical and socio-economic need. Pivotal in this process will be the ability to deliver appropriate growth factors in the repair cascade in a temporal and tightly regulated sequence using appropriately designed matrices and release technologies within a tissue engineering strategy. This review outlines the current concepts and challenges in growth factor delivery for skeletal regeneration and the potential of novel delivery matrices and biotechnologies to influence the healthcare of an increasing ageing population.