Biomimetic Scaffolds for Hard Tissue Surgery: 2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Hard tissues are living, mineralized tissues possessing a high degree of hardness that are found in organs such as bones and teeth (enamel, dentin, and cementum). The ultimate goal of bone and joint surgery, craniofacial surgery, dental surgery, or, in general, hard tissue surgery is reconstruction via the implantation of a device to replace a bone and/or joints affected by disease or traumatic damage or deformity. Reconstruction of critical-sized loss or defects caused by trauma, tumour excision, osteoarthritis, and other bone-resorption-related diseases or disorders remains a significant challenge. However, three-dimensional biomaterial scaffolds have emerged as relatively novel tools used to repair such damaged hard tissues. Biomimetic scaffolds are designed and generated as biomaterial architectures that mimic the regeneration of native tissue. Scaffolds for hard tissue surgery require mechanical stability to support the needed geometry of tissue loss or defects and facilitate bearing external loading. Such scaffolds should provide internal microarchitecture to the tissue that is to be regenerated with an internal, interconnected porous network of effective space for infiltration, growth, and differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, vasculature ingrowth, and new tissue growth, and ensure a channel of material exchange with the external environment (delivering oxygen and other nutrients to the cells and waste removal). Thus, the design of such scaffolds is extremely important to the success of clinical outcomes in hard tissue surgery. The newest trend in this field is the viable bioinspired structural and functional design of tissue-mimicking 3D-printed (composite or hybrid) scaffolds with interconnected pore structures of controlled and often gradual porosity of implants with the synergistic functions of promoting bone regeneration (often seeded with mesenchymal stromal cells and involving biomolecules and growth factors) and reducing local bacterial infections (intrinsically antimicrobial or loaded with antibiotics, peptides, antimicrobial metallic ions, and/or nanoparticles).

This Special Issue aims to exhibit and discuss the latest advancements in biomimetic scaffolds for hard tissue surgery. It is our pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript to this Special Issue. Full papers, communications, and reviews are all welcome.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Biomimetic design strategies for scaffolds;
• Techniques for fabricating biomimetic scaffolds;
• Novel biomaterials for biomimetic scaffolds;
• Biodegradability design of biomimetic scaffolds;
• Surface functionalization of biomimetic scaffolds;
• Clinical applications of biomimetic scaffolds.

Prof. Dr. Ryszard Uklejewski
Dr. Mariusz Winiecki
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomimetics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• biomimetic scaffolds
• hard tissue surgery
• hard tissue regeneration
• bone regeneration
• biomimetic microstructure and biomechanics, biocompatibility
• biodegradability design
• scaffold functionalization

• Biomimetic Scaffolds for Hard Tissue Surgery in Biomimetics (11 articles)