Decellularised Natural Cancellous Trabecular Bone Scaffold in Tissue Engineering

Delayed fracture healing and non-union fractures are major orthopaedic issues that have become a significant healthcare burden. Among many approaches, bone grafts facilitate the healing of non-union fractures. Native cancellous bones represent a more viable and advantageous source of bone grafts due to structural and biochemical similarity with natural bone. They also provide a large surface-to-volume ratio to host cells and for the formation of the vasculature. Given these advantages, we aimed to review some of the recent innovations in native cancellous bone graft production, such as bone selection, decellularisation, demineralisation, and in vitro and in vivo testing. Some endogenous and processing factors affecting performance are also highlighted. In addition, innovations such as the coadministration of interleukin-4, and impregnation of the scaffold with platelet-rich plasma are introduced to increase scaffold performance. A brief overview of skeletal properties and metabolism, fracture healing, and essential features of bone grafts is provided to appreciate these innovations.

Keywords: Bone fracture, Bone graft, Fracture healing, Osteoblast, Osteoporosis, Scaffold.