Electrospinning for bone tissue engineering

Bone tissue engineering is a field of significant research interest owing to the large number of bone defects and the limitations in the present techniques to effectively reconstitute the defects. Cell-based bone graft technique has shown promise in overcoming the limitations of the other bone graft techniques currently used. However the success of this technique is dependent on the choice of appropriate material and processing route. Biodegradability, Osteoinductivity, High porosity with interconnected pores and mechanical stability are some of the important requirements for a tissue engineering scaffold. Several techniques have been demonstrated to fabricate bioscaffolds. However, most of these methods lack the capability to produce three dimensional scaffolds with complex pore structures in a single step. Electrospinning, invented to prepare polymeric threads, has recently emerged as a leading technique for fabricating bioscaffolds for bone tissue engineering. The process has the versatility to produce scaffolds with required morphology and porosity to suit the needs of tissue engineering. This paper reviews some of the recent patents issued in the field of electrospinning and bone tissue engineering.