Preparation of a femoral defect model in rats for bone healing studies

Abstract

Any bone graft or tissue engineered constructs has to be tested in animal models before it is put to clinical studies. Though properties like toxicity or cell integration could be evaluated in vitro, assessment of osteointegration, osteoconduction etc has to be tested in vivo using animal models. A lot number of models have been suggested and is used for bone healing studies. The choice of model depends on the research question as well as on personal and institutional capabilities, experiences and preferences. This study is intended to provide researchers characteristics, advantages, and limitations of this model, which might be very useful to investigate bone graft substitutes in a standardized and well-defined fashion.