Recent advances in one-dimensional nanowire-incorporated bone tissue engineering scaffolds

Several million people worldwide have become witnesses of orthopedic ailments every year, resulting in an urgent need to develop biomimetic bone grafts. The bone's ability to self-heal is limited in critical-sized bone defects, which remains a massive obstacle. Bone tissue engineering (BTE) is a promising approach that could mitigate the risks associated with the conventional gold standard methods. Regardless of the advancement of several biomaterials, nanomaterials have received tremendous attention in recent decades for their potential use as a smart graft material for creating a hierarchical bone structure. Amongst the myriad nanostructures, nano-wires/nanowhiskers (NWs) have emerged as ideal cutting-edge materials for accelerating bone rehabilitation due to their unique physicochemical properties such as high surface-to-volume ratio, multi-absorbing sites, high reactivity, and more amenable surface topography. This review explores recent developments on bone mineral, metal/metal oxide, and polymer-based NW constructs for BTE applications.