Nanocomposites for improved orthopedic and bone tissue engineering applications

Abstract With the advancement of nanotechnology, newer nanomaterials are being searched, designed, and evaluated for a range of industrial purposes. Among various newer nanomaterials, nanocomposites are comprised of multiple nanoscale materials or a nanoscale material incorporated into a bulk material. In recent years, various kinds of nanocomposites such as inorganic-inorganic, organic-inorganic, and organic-organic nanocomposites have been synthesized and evaluated for the industrial uses in pharmaceutical, biomedical, biotechnology, packaging, coating, electronics, and aerospace. Biomedical nanocomposites are also designed for their applications in diverse biomedical sectors like drug delivery, tissue engineering, antimicrobial, wound healing, stem cell therapy, cancer therapy, cardiac prosthesis, artificial blood vessels, biosensors, enzyme immobilization, etc. Even, various biomedical nanocomposites have also shown prospects for diverse orthopedic purposes including orthopedic drug delivery and bone tissue repairing. This chapter deals with a comprehensive review on the nanocomposites for improved orthopedic drug delivery and bone tissue engineering.