A highly osteogenic hybrid bioabsorbable scaffold was developed for bone reconstruction/augmentation. Through the use of a solid free-form fabrication technology, a bioabsorbable polycaprolactone (PCL) cage scaffold with a desired size and shape was produced and then filled with osteogenic bone graft particles, that is, morselized autologous bone chips. A rabbit total lamina defect model was chosen to demonstrate its efficacy in regenerating bone with a complicated anatomic shape. Both iliac bone and morselized iliac bone grafts were used in this study for comparison purposes. Serum osteocalcin and collagen type I cross-linked C-terminal telopeptide (CTx) determination showed that active bone remodeling occurred after bone grafts were implanted. X-ray images showed that the bony defects were completely filled with bone mass in all the groups with bone grafts. However, biomechanical tests showed that only the iliac bone and hybrid scaffold groups could restore the mechanical properties to the normal level after 10 weeks of implantation. A histology study showed that both iliac and hybrid scaffold groups had extensive new bone formation, and no adhesion and fibrosis were found. These results indicated that this osteogenic hybrid scaffold can be a good alternative to autologous iliac bone, because it does not need a second iliac bone-harvesting surgery, and thus the morbidity and the possible infections that are often associated with the bone harvesting surgery can be avoided.
Keywords: bioabsorbable; bone graft; bone tissue engineering; lamina reconstruction; polycaprolactone; scaffolds.