Bioactive Glass Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering Prepared by Gelcasting of Foams

Reference	Presenter	Authors (Institution)	Abstract
02-079	Eliandra Sousa Trichês	Trichês, E.S.(Universidade Federal de São Paulo); de Siqueira, L.(Universidade Federal de São Paulo);	Several types of alloplastic (artificial) grafts, known as scaffolds, have been developed for the treatment of bone defects caused by trauma and/or infection. Among the materials used to manufacture scaffolds, 45S5 Bioglass is a bioceramic that arouses significant interest due to ease preparation and excellent bioactive response. Among the various processing methods cited in the literature for the production of bioactive glass scaffolds, gelcasting is a method that produces macroporous structures, with interconnected and spherical pores and high mechanical strength. However in the literature there are few reports about bioactive glass scaffolds produced by gelcasting method. In this work, 45S5-BG scaffolds were successfully produced by gelcasting of foams. The scaffolds were characterized by their morphology and mechanical and bioactive properties. For biomineralization assays the scaffolds were soaked into SBF up to 21 days. The morphological results, assessed by SEM showed a homogeneous macro-structure with spherical and interconnected pores. The scaffolds showed high geometric porosity (83.2 ± 1.6%) and pore sizes ranging from 100 to 500 ?m, which is considered adequate for bone tissue growth and mechanical compression strength of 1.22 ± 0.7 MPa. In addition, the scaffolds proved to possess a high in vitro bioactivity and excellent solubility characteristics in the degradation study, making it one a great option for applications in tissue engineering due to the possibility of rapid and adequate replacement by growing bone tissue.
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