Chapter 9 - Nanomaterials as promising therapeutic platform for bone tissues engineering

Abstract

Bone tissues defects are currently causing an increased burden on healthcare systems around the world. Current bone tissue engineering methods face challenges such as ineffective cell growth, a lack of appropriate biomaterials, and techniques for capturing appropriate physiological architectures, as well as insufficient and unstable growth factor production to stimulate cell communication and proper response. Nanomaterials at the cutting edge of nanotechnology, with their unique size-dependent characteristics, have shown promise in overcoming many of the challenges that bone tissues engineering faces today. The previous and current advances in bone tissue therapies based on nanotechnological techniques are discussed in this chapter. Nonotherapeutic strategies for delivering drugs and growth factors that promote bone development, as well as gene therapy materials, are among the most notable. Nanomaterials have also made significant progress in stem cell targeting and imaging, which will be described. Finally, current developments in nano-composite construction and scaffold adaptations will be discussed to increase our understanding of the biocompatibility, cellular survival, and mechanical stability of implanted constructs.