45S5 BIOGLASS~R FOR INHIBITION OF FOREIGN=BODY CAPSULE FORMATION AND INTEGRATION TO NATIVE TISSUES PART 1: MATERIAL DEGRADATION AND RELEASE OF IONS

摘要

Bioglass~R is a registered trademarked group of glass biomaterials. A simple PubMed search using the keyword "Bioglass" yielded an exponential pattern (r~2 = 0.9708) of hits from the 1970s to the present decade (Figure 1), suggesting that Bioglass~R research is very much active and alive. Bioglass~R technology still has great untapped potential, particularly in connecting the non-living world of materials to the biological system. Glasses, in material science, are solid materials that are not crystals, i.e., they are amorphous or lacking in long-range order (at nanometer-scale and up) with respect to the arrangement of atoms, ions and molecules locked in place at temperatures below the glass-transition temperature (T ; a unique property of glasses). The major precursor molecular component of Bioglass* is silicon dioxide (SiO2), also known as quartz or silica. At very high heat in a furnace, covalent bonds are formed linking separate silica molecules via Si-O bonds, thereby creating an extensive polymeric network structure. Your table-glass drinkwares and Pyrex containers have more silica ingredients compared to a Bioglass".