Biomorphic scaffolds for the regeneration of loadbearing bones

The bone tissue diseases are among the most disabling pathologies and affect an increasing number of people worldwide. Particularly, the diseases that most seriously impact on the people life and activity are those involving long bone portions subjected to mechanical load. The impact of such problems is particularly relevant among the aged people (i.e. due to osteoporosis) but in the last decade the number of relatively young patients is continuously increasing also due to modern life style which include intense sport activity, tendency to obesity, and so on. In this case the pain and disability also impact on the psychological state, leading to increasing anxiety, depression, and altered perception of their social role. Nowadays, this feeling is shared also by aged people, due to the expectance of a longer active life. For this reason the social and economic impact of the pathologies related to bone tissue is continuously increasing, estimated in about 20% per year; in response to this pressure medicine is required to offer solutions able to really improve the quality of life of patients at every age and in this respect a wide variety of biomedical devices for bone healing has been developed and launched on the market in the last 40 years.