Bioactive Glasses: From Parent 45S5 Composition to Scaffold-Assisted Tissue-Healing Therapies

Abstract

Nowadays, bioactive glasses (BGs) are mainly used to improve and support the healing process of osseous defects deriving from traumatic events, tumor removal, congenital pathologies, implant revisions, or infections. In the past, several approaches have been proposed in the replacement of extensive bone defects, each one with its own advantages and drawbacks. As a result, the need for synthetic bone grafts is still a remarkable clinical challenge since more than 1 million bone-graft surgical operations are annually performed worldwide. Moreover, recent studies show the effectiveness of BGs in the regeneration of soft tissues, too. Often, surgical criteria do not match the engineering ones and, thus, a compromise is required for getting closer to an ideal outcome in terms of good regeneration, mechanical support, and biocompatibility in contact with living tissues. The aim of the present review is providing a general overview of BGs, with particular reference to their use in clinics over the last decades and the latest synthesis/processing methods. Recent advances in the use of BGs in tissue engineering are outlined, where the use of porous scaffolds is gaining growing importance thanks to the new possibilities given by technological progress extended to both manufacturing processes and functionalization techniques.

3D-Printing of Hierarchically Designed and Osteoconductive Bone Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

“…The mechanical and cell-biological results are promising. In a refined approach, pure PLA should be replaced by a PLA/bioglass (BG) composite, due to its advantageous biological and mechanical properties [55,56,61]. In addition, the antimicrobial potential of bioglass proven in vitro could be beneficial.…”

Comparison between Bioactive Sol-Gel and Melt-Derived Glasses/Glass-Ceramics Based on the Multicomponent SiO2–P2O5–CaO–MgO–Na2O–K2O System

“…The strategies commonly adopted to further improve the reaction kinetics of glasses in the physiological environment rely on the appropriate compositional design, method of production and additional treatments (e.g., calcination conditions). It is known, for example, that bioactive glass powders can be produced by both a traditional melt-quenching route and the sol-gel process [12,13]. Most melt-derived bioactive glasses, however, are affected by a series of limitations.…”

Cuttlefish Bone-Derived Biphasic Calcium Phosphate Scaffolds Coated with Sol-Gel Derived Bioactive Glass

“…BGs were firstly synthesized by meltquenching technique. Nevertheless, the sol-gel approach has been gaining more relevance in the last decades [8][9][10]. When compared to melt-quenching, the sol-gel derived BGs are prepared at significantly lower temperatures and they have a higher specific surface area, which, consequently, enhances their bioactive response [11].…”