Progress in bone tissue engineering biomaterials: Development, challenges, and prospects

Abstract

Bone defect repair remains a major clinical challenge in orthopedics. Over 2 million cases caused by trauma, tumors, and other factors occur annually, with large‐scale defects posing a particular bottleneck due to limited self‐healing capacity. The inherent limitations of traditional bone grafting techniques, such as donor site scarcity and immune rejection, have driven the rapid advancement of bone tissue engineering and the development of novel bone repair materials. This review summarizes the pathological mechanisms of bone repair, encompassing three stages: inflammation, regeneration, and remodeling. It elaborates on the regulatory roles of immune cells, stem cells, and cytokines within each stage. Key material categories and advantages are highlighted: bioceramics offer excellent osteoconductivity; polymers provide adaptability; metallic materials meet load‐bearing demands, with degradable metals avoiding second surgery; composites achieve synergistic performance. This review outlines evaluation systems, analyzes clinical challenges including complex microenvironments, material matching, multicell regeneration, and translation barriers. Finally, it highlights frontier directions such as bionic design, intelligent regulation, and immune modulation, offering theoretical references for developing novel bone repair materials.