Application of Hydrogel in Tissue Engineering: Process of Bone Regeneration and Fracture Healing

Nowadays, the wide-reaching prevalence of bone disorders and conditions has been increasing very rapidly. So, the clinical need for efficacious solutions for the bone regeneration process is unanimously recognized. Attributable to the constantly expanding technological and scientific advances in medical science, it turns into an even supplementary serious problem with the increasing expectations of both surgeons and patients. Nowadays the bone regeneration treatment needs progressively more bone diseases, such as bone fracture, infections, tumors, and bone loss. The bone is a nano-material that is comprised of organic collagen and inorganic; mainly the nano-hydroxyapatite components with a tiered structure vacillating from nano-scale to macroscale. In contemplation of the earnest shortcomings in the traditional bone healing processes, nano-materials provide some new strategies in the bone healing and regeneration process. The nano-structured scaffolds are providing a nearer structural sustenance approach to the instinctive bone architecture for the tissue cells and adjust the cell growth, distinction, and relocation, which causes the development of functional bone tissues. The bone regeneration process is a complex, well-structured functional process of the bone composition process, it can be observed through the usual healing process of the bone fractures, and it is involved in the relentless transformation through adult life. However, there are more complex clinical conditions in the bone regeneration process. Currently, there is repletion of several approaches to enhance the impaired or insufficient bone-regeneration process, in this process implementation of bioactive materials in bone tissue engineering gained tremendous attention among scientists all over the world. Bioactive materials such as hydrogel are using for the enhancement of bone fracture repairs, different studies showed that it is possible to overcome the current limitations of the bone regeneration processes. The development of hydrogel scaffolds for bone regeneration has highlighted the challenge that load-bearing hydrogels need to be biocompatible while achieving high strength. Several researchers have been stated to improve the toughness of hydrogels, but achieving high toughness and biocompatibility simultaneously remains a challenge.

This article focused on reviewing the application of hydrogel for bone tissue engineering and regeneration. Furthermore, there some challenges about future research on the application of biomaterials for bone regeneration are described in the conclusion and perspectives part.

Keywords: Bone Regeneration; Bone Tissue Engineering; Hydrogel; Bioactive Materials; Biomaterials