Alina Gack

Bachelor student

Influence of the incorporation of metallic ions in bioactive glass-scaffolds

 

Supervisors: Marcela Arango-Ospina, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Bioactive glasses (BGs) are widely considered for bone tissue engineering applications due to their bioactive behavior. Formed as scaffolds, they are able to imitate the natural porous structure required for bone-application [1]. There are a number of different metallic ions which can be incorporated in BGs, e.g. boron, magnesium and zinc are used to provide additional properties such as osteogenesis, angiogenesis or to enhance bioactivity, e.g. boron stimulates RNA synthesis in fibroblast cells. In this project, the incorporation of metallic ions in the silicate-based BG ICIE16 [2] is analyzed. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to investigate the influence of the ions in the processing of scaffolds and their bioactive behavior. For this research process the classical foam replica technique introduced in 2006 to produce BG scaffolds is used [3] .The samples will be characterized with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FTIR and the mechanical properties will be measured.

[1] L.-C. Gerhardt and A. R. Boccaccini, Bioactive Glass and Glass-Ceramic Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering, Materials 3 (2010) 3867-3910.

[2] A. A. Elgayar, A. R. Boccaccini and R. G. Hill, Structural analysis of bioactive glasses, J. Non. Cryst. Solids. 351 (2005) 173-183.

[3] Q. Z. Chen, I. D. Thompson and A. R. Boccaccini, 45S5 Bioglass®-derived glass–ceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, Biomaterials 27 (2006) 2414-2425.