A pH-neutral bioactive glass empowered gelatin-chitosan-sodium phytate composite scaffold for skull defect repairing

The ideal skull defect repairing material should have good biocompatibility, mechanical properties, and contribute to osteogenesis. In this study, we designed and fabricated biodegradable, bioactive and mechanically robust porous scaffolds composed completely of biological materials. We used gelatin-chitosan blend as the matrix, sodium phytate instead of toxic glutaraldehyde for cross-linking, and the pH-neutral bioactive glass (PSC) to improve biological activity and mechanical properties. The chitosan-gelatin-30%PSC/sodium phytate composite scaffold avoided the problems of high toxicity in conventional cross-linking agents with glutaraldehyde, the poor mechanical support of pure chitosan or gelatin scaffold, and the mismatch of degradation rate with bone repair, being promising as a new candidate for skull defect repair.