Porous composite biomaterials and related methods

A porous reinforced composite scaffold, comprising:

• a thermoplastic polymer matrix comprising:
• a plurality of reinforcement particles;
• and
• a substantially continuously interconnected plurality of pores disposed in a first portion of the thermoplastic polymer matrix such that the first portion is porous and a second portion of the thermoplastic polymer matrix is dense,
• wherein:
• the thermoplastic polymer matrix and the plurality of reinforcement particles define a material volume of the scaffold;
• the plurality of pores define a pore volume of the scaffold;
• each of the pores in the plurality of pores is defined by voids interconnected by struts;
• at least a portion of the plurality of reinforcement particles are exposed on the struts within the pore voids;
• the plurality of reinforcement particles are non-equiaxed and are present in the first portion of the thermoplastic polymer matrix from about 1% to about 60% of the material volume;
• and
• each of the pores in the plurality of pores is defined by voids interconnected by struts and has a size within a range from about 10 μm to about 500 μm.