CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF OSTEOCONDUCTION IN BONE REGENERATION

Bone tissue is osteoconductive. In particular, cancellous bone with it s porous and highly interconnected trabecular architecture allows easy ingrowth of surrounding tissues. When placed in an osseous environmen t, living tissue for the host bed migrates into the cancellous structu re, which results in new bone formation and incorporation of that stru cture. This is the process of osteoconduction, The mineral and collage nous components of bone are osteoconductive, Osteoconduction also is o bserved in fabricated materials that have porosity similar to that of bone structure. Corallin ceramics, hydroxyapatite beads, and combinati ons of hydroxyapatite and collagen all have osteoconductive properties , and porous metals and biodegradable polymers. Osteoconduction appear s to be optimized in devices that mimic not only bone structure, but a lso bone chemistry. The incorporation of calcium salts and collagen by osteoconductive matrices leads to more complete ingrowth with new bon e formation.