Development and Characterization of Highly Bioactive Flexible Vitreous Meshes

Abstract

Bioactive glasses were originally developed by Hench in 1969, and are widely known to possess the ability to rapidly form a chemical bond with living tissues, especially hard tissues. Currently, these glasses have been used clinically as biomaterials that favor bone regeneration in dental and orthopedic surgical procedures. However, its use still restricted due to the fragility and limited commercially available forms, such as plates, powder, granules or rigid scaffolds. Therefore, the research for a process that makes possible its conformation into fiber and meshes is very promising, since this new format could significantly expand the range of use of this excellent biomaterial.Thus, this project aims to develop and enhance the bioactive fibers manufacture by downdrawing, as well as optimize the production of bioactive flexible meshes and also characterize them in relation to their mechanical and biological properties. To this end, new bioactive glass compositions, previously developed in Vitreous Materials Laboratory (LaMaV - UFSCar), will be used. These new glasses have the following characteristics: rapid interaction with body fluids to promote accelerated process of regeneration and decreased crystallization tendency during processing into fibers, as this can difficult or even prevent to obtain them.