REVIEW article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomaterials
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1707406
Advances in 3D-Printed Scaffolds for Bone Defect Repair: Material Strategies and Synergistic Functional Performance
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wuhan Third Hospital, Wuhan, China
- 2Tongren Hospital Affiliated to Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
- 3Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan, China
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Large bone defects remain a major clinical challenge, as traditional grafts and implants often fail to provide both long-term stability and biological integration. Three-dimensional (3D) printing offers unique advantages in fabricating patient-specific scaffolds with controlled architectures, enabling precise modulation of mechanics, degradation, and biological function. Natural and synthetic polymers, ceramics, and their composites have been widely explored, while strategies such as nanofiller reinforcement, surface modification, and growth-factor delivery further enhance osteogenesis, angiogenesis, immunomodulation, and anti-infection performance. This review systematically summarizes recent progress in 3D-printed biomaterial scaffolds for bone defect repair, focusing on their mechanical properties, degradation behavior, bioactivity, infection resistance, and vascularization. Current advances highlight how multifunctional design and material–biological coupling can bridge the gap between laboratory research and translational applications. Future directions emphasize material innovation, hierarchical scaffold design, and clinical standardization to accelerate the safe and effective application of 3D-printed scaffolds in bone regeneration
Keywords: 3D printing, bone tissue engineering, polymer–ceramic composites, Mechanical Properties, degradation, clinical translation
Received: 17 Sep 2025; Accepted: 23 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Tang, Xu, Tang and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhanghua Li, zhanghuali121@gmail.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.