Magnetic Nanoparticles in Bone Tissue Engineering.

Large bone defects with limited intrinsic regenerative potential represent a major surgical challenge and are associated with a high socio-economic burden and severe reduction in the quality of life. Tissue engineering approaches offer the possibility to induce new functional bone regeneration, with the biomimetic scaffold serving as a bridge to create a microenvironment that enables a regenerative niche at the site of damage. Magnetic nanoparticles have emerged as a potential tool in bone tissue engineering that leverages the inherent magnetism of magnetic nano particles in cellular microenvironments providing direction in enhancing the osteoinductive, osteoconductive and angiogenic properties in the design of scaffolds.