Bioactive glasses: from parent 45S5 composition to scaffold-assisted tissue-healing therapies

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

Modelling the elastic mechanical properties of bioactive glass-derived scaffolds

AbstractPorosity is known to play a pivotal role in dictating the functional properties of biomedical scaffolds, with special reference to mechanical performance. While compressive strength is relatively easy to be experimentally assessed even for brittle ceramic and glass foams, elastic properties are much more difficult to be reliably estimated. Therefore, describing and, hence, predicting the relationship between porosity and elastic properties based only on the constitutive parameters of the solid material is still a challenge. In this work, we quantitatively compare the predictive capability of a set of different models in describing, over a wide range of porosity, the elastic modulus (7 models), shear modulus (3 models) and Poisson's ratio (7 models) of bioactive silicate glass-derived scaffolds produced by foam replication. For these types of biomedical materials, the porosity dependence of elastic and shear moduli follows a second-order power-law approximation, whereas the relationship between porosity and Poisson's ratio is well fitted by a linear equation

Digital light processing stereolithography of hydroxyapatite scaffolds with bone-like architecture, permeability, and mechanical properties

AbstractThis work deals with the additive manufacturing and characterization of hydroxyapatite scaffolds mimicking the trabecular architecture of cancellous bone. A novel approach was proposed relying on stereolithographic technology, which builds foam‐like ceramic scaffolds by using three‐dimensional (3D) micro‐tomographic reconstructions of polymeric sponges as virtual templates for the manufacturing process. The layer‐by‐layer fabrication process involves the selective polymerization of a photocurable resin in which hydroxyapatite particles are homogeneously dispersed. Irradiation is performed by a dynamic mask that projects blue light onto the slurry. After sintering, highly‐porous hydroxyapatite scaffolds (total porosity ~0.80, pore size 100‐800 µm) replicating the 3D open‐cell architecture of the polymeric template as well as spongy bone were obtained. Intrinsic permeability of scaffolds was determined by measuring laminar airflow alternating pressure wave drops and was found to be within 0.75‐1.74 × 10−9 m2, which is comparable to the range of human cancellous bone. Compressive tests were also carried out in order to determine the strength (~1.60 MPa), elastic modulus (~513 MPa) and Weibull modulus (m = 2.2) of the scaffolds. Overall, the fabrication strategy used to print hydroxyapatite scaffolds (tomographic imaging combined with digital mirror device [DMD]‐based stereolithography) shows great promise for the development of porous bioceramics with bone‐like architecture and mass transport properties

Vat-photopolymerization of ceramic materials: exploring current applications in advanced multidisciplinary fields

Additive manufacturing has brought about a real revolution in the manufacture of objects in a variety of application areas, overturning the traditional paradigm based on subtractive approaches. The potential benefits deriving from the application of these techniques in the field of ceramic materials extend to different industrial sectors, leading to shorter, more accurate and cost-effective manufacturing processes. Within the present review, we provide a transversal analysis of the state-of-the-art of the applications of vat-photopolymerization technologies, namely, stereolithography and digital light processing in relevant technological industrial/research fields of our times, including biomedicine, energy, environment, space and aerospace, with a special focus on current trends and project-specific requirements. Unmet challenges and future developments will be discussed as well, providing readers a transfer of knowledge and “lessons learned” from one field to the other, being this approach aimed at the further growth of the technology towards its industrialization and market uptake

Fe-doped sol-gel glasses and glass-ceramics for magnetic hyperthermia

This work deals with the synthesis and characterization of novel Fe-containing sol-gel materials obtained by modifying the composition of a binary SiO2-CaO parent glass with the addition of Fe2O3. The effect of different processing conditions (calcination in air vs. argon flowing) on the formation of magnetic crystalline phases was investigated. The produced materials were analyzed from thermal (hot-stage microscopy, differential thermal analysis, and differential thermal calorimetry) and microstructural (X-ray diffraction) viewpoints to assess both the behavior upon heating and the development of crystalline phases. N2 adsorption–desorption measurements allowed determining that these materials have high surface area (40–120 m2/g) and mesoporous texture with mesopore size in the range of 18 to 30 nm. It was assessed that the magnetic properties can actually be tailored by controlling the Fe content and the environmental conditions (oxidant vs. inert atmosphere) during calcination. The glasses and glass-ceramics developed in this work show promise for applications in bone tissue healing which require the use of biocompatible magnetic implants able to elicit therapeutic actions, such as hyperthermia for bone cancer treatment

An automated 3D-printed perfusion bioreactor combinable with pulsed electromagnetic field stimulators for bone tissue investigations

In bone tissue engineering research, bioreactors designed for replicating the main features of the complex native environment represent powerful investigation tools. Moreover, when equipped with automation, their use allows reducing user intervention and dependence, increasing reproducibility and the overall quality of the culture process. In this study, an automated uni-/bi-directional perfusion bioreactor combinable with pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) stimulation for culturing 3D bone tissue models is proposed. A user-friendly control unit automates the perfusion, minimizing the user dependency. Computational fluid dynamics simulations supported the culture chamber design and allowed the estimation of the shear stress values within the construct. Electromagnetic field simulations demonstrated that, in case of combination with a PEMF stimulator, the construct can be exposed to uniform magnetic fields. Preliminary biological tests on 3D bone tissue models showed that perfusion promotes the release of the early differentiation marker alkaline phosphatase. The histological analysis confirmed that perfusion favors cells to deposit more extracellular matrix (ECM) with respect to the static culture and revealed that bi-directional perfusion better promotes ECM deposition across the construct with respect to uni-directional perfusion. Lastly, the Real-time PCR results of 3D bone tissue models cultured under bi-directional perfusion without and with PEMF stimulation revealed that the only perfusion induced a ~ 40-fold up-regulation of the expression of the osteogenic gene collagen type I with respect to the static control, while a ~ 80-fold up-regulation was measured when perfusion was combined with PEMF stimulation, indicating a positive synergic pro-osteogenic effect of combined physical stimulation