Patent ID: 8344042

Claim:
A biodegradable synthetic bone composition comprising: (a) a biodegradable hydrogel polymer scaffold comprising a plurality of linear chains, wherein each linear chain comprises a crosslinker which links the linear chain to another linear chain, and each crosslinker comprises a hydrolytically unstable linkage; wherein each linear chain of the biodegradable hydrogel polymer scaffold comprises one or more repeating subunits of different structures with the following structure: wherein R 1 is H, a lower alkyl, wherein a partial number of the R 1 of the biodegradable hydrogel polymer scaffold are negative charges; R 2 is H or a lower alkyl, and X is O, S or NH; and each crosslinker comprises the following structure: wherein R 3 is H or a lower alkyl; R 4 is H or a lower alkyl; X is O, S or NH; R 7 is —R 9 COO—, —R 9 C(OR 10 )(OR 11 )O—, —R 9 CONH—, or —R 9 CON(R 10 )—; R 8 is —C q H 2q —O—, wherein q is a integer from 0 to 3; m, n, and p are each independently an integer from 1 to 10,000; R 9 is —C r H 2 r—, wherein r is an integer from 0 to 3; R 10 and R 11 are each independently —C s H 2s —CH 3 , wherein s is an integer from 0 to 3; and the α bonds connect two repeating subunits of a first linear chain, and the β bonds connect two repeating subunits of a second linear chain, wherein the amount of the crosslinker is from 20% to 80% of the polymer scaffold; and (b) an inorganic component.