Fabrication and clinical application of easy-to-operate pre-cured CPC/rhBMP-2 micro-scaffolds for bone regeneration.

Bone tissue engineering scaffolds loading growth factors have been considered as the most perspective among all bone substitutes, yet little progress of its clinical translation has been made. The concept of "micro-scaffolds" was proposed in this study to provide a trajectory to the clinical translation of porous scaffolds. Combining CPC and rhBMP-2, a pre-cured CPC/rhBMP-2 micro-scaffold has been successfully developed and further applied as an easy-to-operate filler for bone regeneration in a pilot clinical study. The results demonstrated superior overall performances of CPC/rhBMP-2 microffolds to traditional therapies, with not only shortened repairing time and improved repairing qualities, but also the potential in treating fractures that are most challenging for current therapies. This pilot clinical study of CPC/rhBMP-2 microffolds further promoted the clinical translation of porous scaffolds for bone regeneration, and provided new insights for future development of artificial bone substitutes.