Hierarchical porosity ihnerited by natural sources affects the mechanical and biological behaviour of bone scaffolds

TL;DR

This study investigates a biomimetic 3-D porous apatite scaffold derived from natural wood, demonstrating superior mechanical properties and promising biological performance for bone regeneration applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel hierarchical porous scaffold with natural-inspired architecture, showing enhanced mechanical strength and biological activity compared to traditional ceramics.

Findings

Hierarchical pore architecture recapitulates natural lymphatic network.

B-HA exhibits higher strength and stiffness than typical sintered ceramics.

Cell co-culture tests show promising tissue regeneration results.

Abstract

A 3-D porous apatite scaffold (B-HA), recently obtained through biomorphic transformation of a natural wood, is investigated on its multi-scale porous structure determining superior mechanical properties and biological behaviour. B-HA shows hierarchical pore architecture with wide aligned channels interconnected with smaller tubules, thus recapitulating in detail the lymphatic network of the original wood template. As induced by its biomimetic architecture, B-HA displays values of compression and tensile strength and stiffness, higher than the values usually measured in sintered ceramics with isotropic porosity. Furthermore, B-HA shows a ductility not common for a pure ceramic body and a tensile strength higher than its compression strength, thus occupying a zone in the Ashby chart where ceramics are usually not present. Cell co-culture tests in bioreactor report encouraging results in enhancing the complex tissue regeneration process, thus making B-HA very promising as a scaffold able to promote bone regeneration, particularly for large bone defects.