| Polymer | Ceramic | Metal and Alloy | Composite | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advantages | Biologically similar to bone, flexible, light-weight, easily modified, non-toxic [25] |
Anti-corrosive, bioinert/bioactive/bioresorbable, HAp is Osteoconductive [25, 40] |
Strength, sustain weight at load bearing sites [8] |
Modified to be biochemically and structurally similar to bone. [25] |
| Disadvantages | Poor osteointegration, debris can induce osteolysis/immune response, too brittle for load baring joints [25] |
Fragile, HAp has risk of migration [6] |
Poor osteointegration, risk of infection, inflammation, fibrous encapsulation, systemic absorption of debris, joint loosening, stress shielding, 10-15 year longevity – revision surgery, bio-inert, bio-active, bio [2, 8] |
Characteristics dependant on manufacture. [25] |
| Application | Scaffolds, pins, screws, plates, bone filler, drug delivery [25] |
Hip joints and load baring implants, implant coating, bone filler. [25] |
Bone plates, load baring implants [25] |
Bone grafts, scaffolds, bone regenerative membranes, drug delivery [25] |
| Examples | Biodegradable polymers ; PLA, PGA, gelatin, PLGA, collagen, PCL, CPLA. Non-biodegradable; PE, PET, PMMA [25] |
HAp, alumnia, zirconia and bioglass [25] |
Titanium, stainless steel, titanium alloy, cobalt-chromium [25] |
HAp with collagen, gelatin, chitosan, alginate, PLGA, PLLA, PE. Chitosan- methylmethacrylate. [25] |
| Nanotechnology | Carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibre and graphene polymer scaffolds. Electrospun polymer scaffolds. SAP scaffolds. Nanophase collagen. Peptide Amphiphiles. Helical rosette nanotubes. [7, 8, 25, 28-30, 34, 37, 38] |
Nano HAp. BCP implants and scaffolds. Bioactive glass nanofibers. Nanophase alumnia. [2, 7, 25, 42, 44] |
Titanium denatal implants coated with nanophase hydroxyapatite. [22] |
Chitosan & nanophase HAp. Electrospun biodegradable polymer plus nanophase HAp, carbon nanotubes, bioactive glass, tricalcium phosphate. Carbon nanotubes within nano-composite scaffold. [6, 25, 27] |