Studies on effect of CuO addition on mechanical properties and in vitro cytocompatibility in 1393 bioactive glass scaffold.

Copper doped bioactive glasses have been reported as the potential biomaterial for diseased or damaged bone repair and act as stimulants to new bones formation. In the present manuscript, we have synthesized 1393 derived glass based scaffold with the general formula of (54.6 - X)SiO2·6Na2O·7.9 K2O·7.7 MgO·22 CaO·1.74 P2O5·XCuO (all are in mole%; where X = 0,1,2,3) through traditional melt-quench route and the samples were designated as 1393, 1393-1Cu, 1393-2Cu and 1393-3Cu respectively. Polymer foam with interconnected pores has been used on later stage to prepare porous (porosity > 50%) bioactive scaffolds. The addition of CuO in glass scaffolds was to ensure its cytocompatibility, ability to enhance cell proliferation and improvements in mechanical properties. Increasing trend of CuO in the 1393 glass scaffold has resulted in increasing compressive and flexural strength and elastic modulus of the scaffolds. In-vitro cellular growth inhibition and cell viability assay of CuO incorporated 1393 glass scaffolds demonstrated that it did not inhibit proliferation and viability of human squamous carcinoma cell (SCC-25) at low materials concentration. The materials caused moderate level of apoptosis at higher concentrations and were also tolerated by human RBC as studied by hemolytic assay. The results indicated that CuO incorporated 1393 scaffolds could be a potential biomaterial for neobone tissue engineering application.

Influence of barium substitution on bioactivity, thermal and physico-mechanical properties of bioactive glass.

Barium with low concentration in the glasses acts as a muscle stimulant and is found in human teeth. We have made a primary study by substituting barium in the bioactive glass. The chemical composition containing (46.1-X) SiO2--24.3 Na2O-26.9 CaO-2.6 P2O5, where X=0, 0.4, 0.8, 1.2 and 1.6mol% of BaO was chosen and melted in an electric furnace at 1400±5°C. The glasses were characterized to determine their use in biomedical applications. The nucleation and crystallization regimes were determined by DTA and the controlled crystallization was carried out by suitable heat treatment. The crystalline phase formed was identified by using XRD technique. Bioactivity of these glasses was assessed by immersion in simulated body fluid (SBF) for various time periods. The formation of hydroxy carbonate apatite (HCA) layer was identified by FTIR spectrometry, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and XRD which showed the presence of HCA as the main phase in all tested bioactive glass samples. Flexural strength and densities of bioactive glasses have been measured and found to increase with increasing the barium content. The human blood compatibility of the samples was evaluated and found to be pertinent.