Biomechanical evaluation of biomaterial implants in large animal model: A review

Abstract

Tissue engineering has emerged as an important strategy for bone regeneration field. Numerous animal models have been investigated to assess the effect of developed biomaterial implants in order to closely simulate the biomechanical of human bone in in vivo conditions. With advances in materials science, various of biodegradable and bioresorbable biomaterials or scaffold such as hydroxyapatite, ceramic, polymers, metal, and composites have been experimentally and clinically studied in large animal models. Therefore, the optimization of the overall process is challenging where suitable method to interpret the results of new bone formation within scaffold are essentials. Bone specimens containing biomaterial implants are difficult to handle for some reason such as their hardness, type and size of implants biomaterial, tissue processing techniques, type of loading and rate of load applied as it can impact the interpretations of the mechanical results and performance of the implant material. Overall, the intention of the in vivo study is to provide an experimental data and informative description of the bone healing process, thus allowing comparisons among studies and researchers can describe their implant materials at full length. The aim of this article is to conduct a comprehensive literature review to provide and identify the current trends in the protocols reported on the type of mechanical test evaluation used for ex vivo biomaterial implants in large animal models.