2023, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (7): 1117-1125

Application and design of piezoelectric materials for bone defect repair

Tang Haotian, Liao Rongdong, Tian Jing   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Bone has the piezoelectric effect, which can transform its stress into electrical signals on the bone surface, and regulate bone metabolism and growth through electrical signals. As bone implants, the bioelectrical piezoelectric materials can promote bone healing by generating surface charges and restoring the potential of injured tissue.
OBJECTIVE: To introduce the piezoelectric effect of the bone, the feasibility of piezoelectric materials on promoting bone repair and research progress of piezoelectric materials applied to bone tissue engineering from the perspective of piezoelectricity and review the osteogenesis mechanism of piezoelectric materials in order to provide new ideas for bone defect repair.
METHODS: Using “piezoelectric effect, piezoelectric materials, piezoelectric ceramic, piezoelectric polymers, osteogenesis, bone tissue engineering, scaffolds, bone defect, energy harvester” as Chinese and English search terms, 88 articles were searched and summarized on PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, CNKI and Wanfang databases.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Piezoelectric materials can simulate the bioelectric microenvironment of extracellular matrix of bone tissue due to the piezoelectric properties of generating electricity when deformed and can be made into scaffolds to enhance bone repair function without relying on growth factors or drugs by applying electrical stimulation to bone tissue. (2) Piezoelectric materials promote osteogenesis by stimulating voltage-gated calcium channel and α5β1 integrin, increasing regional blood flow and other approaches. (3) At present, no single piezoelectric material can meet the characteristics of piezoelectric materials applied to bone tissue engineering. Therefore, piezoelectric composites made from combining piezoelectric ceramics with piezoelectric polymers or bioactive materials are consequently created. Comparing with piezoelectric ceramics, piezoelectric composites are easier to process, demonstrating superior biocompatibility and enhanced functions of promoting bone cell adhesion and mineralization, which makes it the best piezoelectric material for the treatment of bone defects. (4) Although piezoelectric materials can simulate the bioelectric microenvironment of bone tissue to enhance osteogenesis, the mechanism of piezoelectric materials interacting with bone cells is not clear, and the microenvironment of different bone tissues is unique, which limits the clinical application of piezoelectric materials. With the further study of biomaterials and elucidation of the interaction between piezoelectric materials and cells, piezoelectric materials are expected to provide new ways for the repair of bone defects.   
Key words: piezoelectric effect, piezoelectric material, piezoelectric ceramic, piezoelectric polymer, osteogenesis, bone tissue engineering, cell scaffold, bone defect, energy harvester, review