Author: Krista Grayson

Porous hollow glass microspheres can encapsulate and deliver drugs more efficiently and provide protection from biological compounds that may interfere with drug availability.

Bone grafts typically require bone harvested from another part of the patient’s body (autograft) or from a tissue donor (allograft). But artificial bone grafts made of bioactive glass are becoming more favorable due to their availability and range of properties.

Photosensitive glass is a highly promising material for the production of components for a number of complex microsystems. High aspect ratio microstructures can be produced using only slightly modified semiconductor equipment and relatively low manufacturing costs are possible with small scale production.

Tooth fillings that utilize bioactive glass composites have been shown to reduce bacterial colonization and strengthen composite fillings. This translates to a reduced rate of decay and increased lifetime of the restoration.

With recent technological advances, it is now possible to coat metal implants with bioactive glass. Implants coated in this way have demonstrated great advantages in terms of both patient safety and recovery.

Vascularization is the key limitation to regenerating tissue after trauma. Recently, tissue scaffolds made of bioactive glass have been shown to promote the blood vessel formation that is so important for supporting new tissue growth.

So far, silica-based bioactive glasses have been traditionally used to facilitate periodontal reconstruction or bone repair, but now many new borate-based bioactive glasses are used as scaffolds for soft tissue engineering.

Researchers are now combining advanced materials like bioactive glasses and 3D printing techniques to create custom scaffolds and implants that dissolve in the body and are replaced with new tissues.

Developers are increasingly looking to Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) to help reduce the carbon emissions associated with electricity generation because of its high conversion efficiency and suitability for distributed generation.