Inorganic Materials for Regenerative Medicine

Methods that are used in regenerative medicine rely on the inherent ability of living organisms to regenerate their tissue. If the size (volume) of a defect exceeds some critical level, regeneration can be initiated and maintained using resorbable porous scaffolds made of natural, artificial, or synthetic materials capable of temporary defect compensation. When modified with pharmaceutical products and specific proteins or cells, such porous scaffolds are referred to as tissue engineering constructs. Inorganic resorbable materials are most frequently used for bone tissue defect repair. Natural bone is a composite having a polymer (collagen) matrix filled with calcium phosphate nanocrystals in the form of insoluble calcium hydroxyapatite. For this reason, calcium phosphate-based materials are leaders of medical inorganic materials research. To date, resorbable biocompatible materials based on tricalcium phosphate, calcium pyrophosphate, brushite, monetite, and octacalcium phosphate have been developed. Calcium hydroxyapatite is known as an inorganic ion exchanger. Because of this, the composition of bone tissue includes, in addition to phosphate and calcium ions, carbonate, silicate, and sulfate ions, as well as sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, strontium, zinc and some other metal ions. The fact that bone tissue contains anions substituting for orthophosphate ions or hydroxide ions in the calcium hydroxyapatite of bone tissue prompted researchers to produce resorbable materials based on calcium sulfates, calcium carbonate, and calcium phosphates in which orthophosphate ions are replaced by anions mentioned above. Cation substitutions in calcium hydroxyapatite of bone tissue and the chemical composition of the medium of an organism allow one to produce and use resorbable materials for bone implants consisting of cation-substituted calcium phosphates and calcium–biocompatible cation double phosphates, such as sodium-substituted tricalcium phosphate, potassium-substituted tricalcium phosphate, sodium rhenanite, potassium rhenanite, and calcium magnesium double pyrophosphate. The resorption of an inorganic material intended for use as a pharmaceutical product can be controlled via designing a preset phase composition. The above-mentioned biocompatible resorbable phases can be used in various combinations in already existing composite materials or composites under development. The microstructure of a biocompatible resorbable inorganic material can be formed as a result of various physicochemical processes. The phase composition and microstructure of a ceramic material are determined by solid-state and liquid-phase sintering processes, as well as by heterogeneous chemical reactions during firing. The phase composition and microstructure of cement stone are formed as a result of chemical binding reactions initiated by the addition of water or aqueous solutions. Amorphous materials can be prepared via melting of starting reagents or sol–gel processing. The osteoconductivity of a biocompatible resorbable inorganic material is an important property necessary for body fluids and bone cells to be able to penetrate into the implant material. Macroporosity, which determines the osteoconductivity of a resorbable inorganic material, can be produced using various technological approaches. 3D printing methods make it possible to obtain materials with tailored phase composition and microstructure and permeable macroporosity of preset architecture. A large surface area of a porous inorganic material is thought to be a factor of controlling the resorption rate. This review summarizes information about existing biocompatible resorbable inorganic materials for regenerative medicine and considers physicochemical principles of the preparation of such materials with the use of synthetic starting powders and natural materials.