Development of melt electrospun composite scaffolds for bone regeneration

This thesis was a step forward in the development of an effective and patient-specific treatment for bone tissue loss using synthetic tissue engineered constructs. A novel polycaprolactone/strontium-substituted bioactive glass composite was fabricated into scaffolds with highly ordered fibre structure and promising osteogenic potential using an advanced additive manufacturing technique known as melt-electrospinning. The findings of this thesis provide an indispensable link in our understanding of future cell-free treatment for bone defects utilising fully synthetic bioactive scaffolds. The thesis also developed several histological assessment tools for evaluating current and future tissue engineered bone constructs utilised in pre-clinical animal studies.