Main description:

The global ageing society has significantly increased the need for implant materials, which not only replace damaged or lost tissue but are also able to regenerate it. The field of bioactive glasses has been expanding continuously over recent years as they have been shown to bond with hard and soft tissue, release therapeutically active ions, and be capable of enhancing bone formation and regeneration. In addition, they are successfully being used to re-mineralise teeth, thereby making bioactive glasses highly attractive materials in both dentistry and medicine.

Understanding the multidisciplinary requirements set by the human body's environment and the special characteristics of the different families of bioactive glasses is a key in developing new compositions to novel clinical applications. Bioactive Glasses aims to bridge the different scientific communities associated with the field of bioactive glasses with focus on the materials science point of view. Emerging applications covered include soft tissue regeneration, wound healing, vascularisation, cancer treatment and drug delivery devices.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest applications of bioactive glasses for material scientists.

Contents:

Melt-derived Bioactive Silicate Glasses; Bioactive Glass-ceramics: Processing, Properties and Applications; Introduction to the Structure of Silicate, Phosphate and Borate Glasses; Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Bioactive Glass Structure and In vitro Reactivity; Sol-Gel Glass and Nano-Macro Porous Bioscaffolds; Tailoring of Bioactive Glasses; Bioactive Glass Products Produced via Sintering; Bioactive Nanoparticles, Nanofibers, and Polymeric Nanoscomposites; Surface Functionalization of Bioactive Glasses: Reactive Groups, Biomolecules and Drugs on Bioactive Surfaces for Smart and Functional Biomaterials; Bioactive Glass Particulate-incorporated Polymer Composites; Phosphate Glass Fibers and Their Composites; Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Biomaterials; Cell Interactions with Calcium Phosphate Glasses; Bioactive Glasses in Infection Treatment; Bioactive Glasses for Soft Tissue Engineering Applications; Bioactive Glasses as Carriers of Therapeutic Ions and the Biological Implications; Mesoporous Bioactive Glasses in Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery; Bioactive Glasses for Nerve Regeneration; Bioactive Silicate Glass in Implantable Medical Devices: From Research to Clinical Applications; Glass Materials in Interventional Radiology and Interventional Oncology; Sol-Gel-Derived Glasses for Bone Tissue Engineering