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Over the past few decades, much effort has been made to improve the mechanical and biological performance of HA, in order to extend its range of applications. As a major inorganic component of human hard tissues, hydroxyapatite bioceramic is regarded as being one of the most biocompatible materials. Numerous in vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed its excellent bioactivity, osteoconductivity and bone forming ability. However, because of its poor mechanical properties, its use in hard tissue applications has been restricted to those areas in which it can be used in the form of small sized powders/granules or in the non-load bearing sites. A number of researchers have focused on improving the mechanical and biological performance of HA, as well as on the formulation of hybrid and composite systems in order to extend its range of applications. In this article, we reviewed our recent works on HA-based biomaterials; i) the strengthening of HA with ceramic oxides, ii) HA-based bioactive coatings on metallic implants, iii) HA-based porous scaffolds and iv) HA-polymer hybrids/composites.
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