Porosity of Biomaterials and Bone Ingrowth

Porosity and pore size of biomaterials play a critical role in bone formation.Higher porosity and pore size result in greater bone ingrowth but diminish mechanical properties.Thus,a balance must be reached depending on the mechanical properties and bone ingrowth of the biomaterials.New fabrication techniques,such as solid-free form fabrication,can potentially be used to generate materials with selectively designed morphological and mechanical properties to meet the specificity of bone repair.This review explored the in vitro and in vivo studies regarding the influence of porosity and pore size for a material on the bone ingrowth.