Biodegradable Polymers as Drug Delivery Systems for Bone Regeneration

Abstract

Regenerative medicine has been widely researched for the treatment of bone defects. In the field of bone regenerative medicine, signaling molecules and the use of scaffolds are of particular importance as drug delivery systems (DDS) or carriers for cell differentiation, and various materials have been explored for their potential use. Although calcium phosphates such as hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate are clinically used as synthetic scaffold material for bone regeneration, biodegradable materials have attracted much attention in recent years for their clinical application as scaffolds due their ability to facilitate rapid localized absorption and replacement with autologous bone. In this review, we introduce the types, features, and performance characteristics of biodegradable polymer scaffolds in their role as DDS for bone regeneration therapy.