Microsphere based scaffolds for bone regenerative applications

Abstract

Microspheres are characteristically flowing particles composed of inorganic and/or polymeric materials. Conventionally, microspheres are used as vehicles for controlled release because they can overcome the drawbacks of conventional therapy and enhance the efficacy of the given drug. Recently, due to the rapid development of tissue engineering, microspheres have been used in tissue engineering scaffolds. In microsphere-based/containing scaffolds, microspheres play an important role in both drug release and cell residence. There are two types of microspheres mainly exhibiting scaffold function, which are microsphere sintered or dissolved scaffolds and microsphere incorporated scaffolds. Taken together, the development of microsphere-based/containing scaffolds may open a new door for constructing drug release scaffolds for bone regenerative applications.