Fig. 3.

Ideal properties of a tissue-engineered scaffold for craniomaxillofacial defect repair. A scaffold should promote new and organized vasculature throughout the defect space in order to delivery nutrients and cells to the newly forming bone. It should also be designed to produce new bone and integrate well with the surrounding bone, doing so by degrading over time and resisting initial resorption by osteoclasts. Finally, a scaffold should prevent infection as chances of this are high in CMF defects, while also guiding the immune response to repair rather than persistent inflammation.