Ultrasound-responsive Smart Biomaterials for Bone Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Bone defects resulting from trauma, tumors, or other injuries significantly impact human health and quality of life. However, current treatments for bone defects are constrained by donor shortages and immune rejection. Bone tissue engineering has partially alleviated the limitations of traditional bone repair methods. The development of smart biomaterials that can respond to external stimuli to modulate the biofunctions has become a prominent area of research. Ultrasound technology is regarded as an optimal "remote controller" and "trigger" for bone repair biomaterials. This review reports comprehensive and systematic overview of the ultrasound-responsive bone repair smart biomaterials. It presented the fundamental theories of bone repair, the definition of ultrasound, and its applications. Furthermore, the review summarized the ultrasound effect mechanisms of biomaterials and their roles in bone repair, detailing studies including anti-inflammation, immunomodulation, and cell therapy were summarized. Finally, the advantages of ultrasound-responsive smart biomaterials and the future prospects in this field were discussed.