Review on the strategies to improve the mechanical strength of highly porous bone bioceramic scaffolds

Bone healing is an impressive ability of the human body, but critical-sized bone defects require external intervention. Bioceramic scaffolds with excellent biocompatibility and bioactivity have been developed to treat non-healing bone defects because of their unique features for bone repair. Meanwhile, the mechanical properties of the material continue to be disadvantageous. This review focuses on (i) essential factors in affecting and improving bioceramic-based scaffolds' mechanical properties, including porosity, pore size, methods, and material composition, and (ii) summarizing previous studies and highlighting strategies to fabricate scaffolds with improved mechanical properties such as using nano-particles, using a combination of bioceramics and polymers, and modifying scaffold surfaces. Further research is necessary to improve bioceramic scaffolds for bone repair applications.