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Interbody spinal fusion relies on the use of external fixation and the placement of a fusion cage filled with graft materials (scaffolds) without regard for their mechanical performance. Stability at the fusion site is instead reliant on fixation hardware combined with a selected cage. Ideally, scaffolds placed into the cage should both support the formation of new bone and contribute to the mechanical stability at the fusion site.

We recently developed a scaffold consisting of silane-modified PCL-TCP (PCL-siTCP) with mechanical properties that can withstand the higher loads generated in the spine. To ensure the scaffold more closely mimicked the bone matrix, we incorporated collagen (Col) and a heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan sugar (HS3) with increased affinity for heparin-binding proteins such as bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2). The osteostimulatory characteristic of this novel …