Bioresorbable and bioactive polymer/Bioglass® composites with tailored pore structure for tissue engineering applications

An overview about the development of porous bioresorbable composite materials for applications as scaffolds in tissue engineering is presented. A thermally induced phase separation method was developed to fabricate porous foam-like structures of poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) containing bioactive glass particle additions (up to 50 wt.%) and exhibiting well-defined, oriented and interconnected porosity. The in vitro bioactivity and the degradability of the composite foams were investigated in contact with phosphate buffer saline (PBS). Weight loss, water absorption and molecular weight measurements were used to monitor the polymer degradation after incubation periods of up to 7 weeks in PBS. It was found that the presence of bioactive glass retards the polymer degradation rate for the time period investigated. The present results show a way of controlling the in vitro degradation behaviour of PLGA porous composite scaffolds by tailoring the concentration of bioactive glass.