Three Dimensional Macroporous Calcium Phosphates Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract Bone tissue engineering is a promising area that aims at developing implants capable of repairing and/ or substituting damaged or lost bone tissue. Ceramics are widely used for bone tissue engineering purposes and in this study, hydroxyapatite porous scaffolds were produced using the polymer replication method. With this method, it was possible to obtain scaffolds with specific demands adequate to tissue engineering purposes namely: macroporosity, microporosity and interconnected porosity. Polyurethane sponges were used as templates and impregnated with a ceramic slurry at different ratios being afterwards sintered following a specific thermal cycle. The characteristics of the hydroxyapatite porous scaffolds were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy and micro computer tomography (μ-CT). Human bone marrow cells (HBMC) were isolated and cultured on the scaffolds for 28 days and SEM was used as a tool to assess cell morphology and distribution.