Porous scaffolds made from mineralised collagen -: a biomimetic bone graft material

Using biomimetically mineralised collagen type 1, a new porous bone graft material has been developed, the composition of which mimics extracellular matrix of bone tissue. The pore structure is generated by a freeze drying process, whereas the pore size can be controlled by temperature and velocity of the freezing over a wide range. The structure is stabilized by crosslinking of the collagen with the water soluble carbodiimide derivative EDC. For the seeding with bone cells, pores with diameters of about 200 mum have turned out to be optimal. These scaffolds are elastic in the wet state which allow for cell culture experiments under mechanical stimulation.