Metallic Scaffolds

The focus of hard tissue engineering is mostly on osteo and dental clinical applications. Whereas hard tissues are usually under the load, biomaterials used for this purpose must have sufficient mechanical properties as well as corrosion resistance, enough wear resistance and biocompatibility. A lot of amazing researches are in process throughout the world in an attempt to develop new scaffolds for tissue engineering. Today, most research efforts are made to develop scaffolds through using the natural and synthetic polymers for soft tissue engineering; however, metallic scaffolds have also been the interest of in vitro and in vivo research for hard tissue engineering. With regard to the excellent mechanical behavior of metals rather than polymers and ceramics, metallic scaffolds have been preferred for bone tissue engineering applications in which the tissue is under the load. Up to now, numerous biocompatible metallic biomaterials have been utilized as implants in dental and orthopaedic surgery in order to repair damaged bones and to provide support for bone healing. In this article, efforts have been made to review the applications of titanium, tantalum, nitinol and magnesium in scaffolds.

Keywords: Magnesium, Metallic biomaterials, Nitinol, Tantalum, Titanium.