Effect of Dopants on the Physical, Mechanical, and Biological Properties of Porous Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

The design of scaffolds with multifunctional properties is attractive for tissue engineering due to their potential to provide and improve the quality of life of people who require surgery or have bone diseases or defects. The scaffolds for these applications must be bioactive and comply with the effects of biocompatibility and biodegradability. They must also promote osseointegration to facilitate the formation of bone tissue on its surface and allow the adhesion with the surrounding living tissue when implanted into the human body. Bioactive glasses have proven to be suitable for the fabrication of scaffolds since they are osteoconductive as well as osteoinductive. The incorporation of specific metal ions such as Cu, Ag, Mg, Zn, Sr, and Co is currently of interest because they can improve angiogenic and osteogenic performance, antibacterial activity, and physical and mechanical properties. Therefore, this review summarizes the effect of dopants in various bioglass scaffold compositions. Specific and important aspects are shown, such as the effect of the addition of doping elements on the microstructure, mechanical, and thermal properties, as well as bioactivity, cell proliferation, and antibacterial properties. To evaluate the bioactivity, viability, and antibacterial activity, several authors have manufactured doped bioglass scaffolds for multiple applications and have resorted to multiple studies, including in vitro bioactivity analyses in simulated body fluid, microbial activity using various strains of bacteria, cytotoxicity, viability, and cell proliferation using various cell lines.