Bone tissue engineering scaffold materials: Fundamentals, advances, and challenges

Bone damage caused by trauma and tumors is a serious problem for human health, therefore, three-dimensional (3D) scaffolding materials that stimulate and promote the regeneration of broken bone tissues have become the focus of current research in the field of bone damage repair. To this regard, a preferential combination of materials and preparation techniques is considered crucial for the preparation of advanced bone tissue engineering scaffolds to better facilitate the regeneration of broken bone. In this review, current research advances and challenges in bone tissue engineering scaffolds are discussed and analyzed in detail. First, we elucidated the structure and self-healing mechanism of bone tissue. Subsequently, the main applications of different materials, including inorganic and organic materials, in bone tissue engineering scaffolds are summarized. Moreover, we overview the latest research progress of the mainstream preparation strategies of bone tissue engineering scaffolds, and provide an in-depth analysis of the different advantages of each method. Finally, promising future directions and challenges of bone tissue engineering scaffolds are systematically discussed.