Polymer-ceramic nancomposites for bone regeneration

Abstract

Bone is a very important structure in the human body. In the craniomaxillofacial complex, trauma and pathological situations such as maxillofacial tumors produce major bone defects that cannot be healed by physiological processes. As a response to this problem, many strategies have been studied throughout the years, with the purpose to find a material that reunites ideal properties for regenerating or substituting the needed bone and therefore guarantee its physiological and structural functions. Among this strategies, transplantation of bone within the same individual (autografts), from another human being (allograft) or from an individual of another species (xenograft) have been studied and are clinically applied nowadays. However, these techniques revealed to have drawbacks such as donor site morbidity, risk of disease infection and immunological reactions. In this context, new solutions are needed. In the field of biomaterials, nanocomposites are considered a promising material for many outcomes, mainly because their nanometer-scale allows a superior structural performance, when compared to microcomposite materials. In the bone regeneration area, ceramic nanocomposites dispersed in a polymeric matrix are a promising solution, because they reassemble the physiological bone structure, adding unique biocompatible and stimulating properties to the already outstanding mechanical behavior. The investigation of the different types of ceramic-polymeric nanocomposites, as well as the co-factors that can be added to enhance the biological response and their processing ability for the commercial level, is extremely relevant. This study intends to present a review of the published information about the in vivo and in vitro studies that have been performed in the last 5 years and their contribution for the development of an ideal nanocomposite material to be used in bone regeneration, particularly in the craniomaxillofacial context.

Date of Award	9 Sept 2014
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ana Leite Oliveira (Supervisor)