Development and characterization of a novel porous β-TCP scaffold with a three-dimensional PLLA network structure for use in bone tissue engineering

Abstract

In the field of bone regenerative medicine, the need for artificial bone substitutes has been rapidly increasing, and various porous bioactive ceramics have been developed for use as bone substitutes. While materials such as β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) have good oseteoconductivity, poly (l-lactide acid) (PLLA) has been shown to have good mechanical and physical properties. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to fabricate a porous β-TCP scaffold with a PLLA network structure (β-TCP/PLLA) for use in bone tissue engineering. The fabricated β-TCP/PLLA scaffolds were characterized by their surface microstructures and compressive moduli. The results demonstrated that the structure of the PLLA membrane, such as pore size and thickness of membrane, could be changed by varying the concentration of PLLA.