Research Progress of Bioactive Glass and Its Application in Orthopedics

Bioactive glass (BG) is a classical bone biomaterial. The main characteristics of BG that support their use in orthopedics include good osteoconductivity, osteostimulativity, degradability, and suitable mechanical strength. When implanted into the body, BG can effectively strengthen the bonding between soft and hard tissues, promote the formation of dense hydroxyapatite (HA) layer on its surface which is similar to human bone tissue, and quickly combine with bone tissue, to induce and accelerate the process of bone growth. In recent years, numerous studies have been published on the application of BG in orthopedics, and its application scope is also extensive. Here, a comprehensive and systematic literature review is conducted on the application of BG in orthopedics in various aspects including BG nanoparticles, BG nanofibers, BG scaffolds, metal ion-loaded BG, drug and biological factor-load BG, injectable BG-based hydrogels/pastes, BG bone cement, BG coating, etc. Although remarkable progress has been made, numerous problems limit the clinical application of BG and need to be solved by further research.

Automated summary

Bioactive glass is a classical bone biomaterial with good osteoconductivity, osteostimulativity, degradability, and suitable mechanical strength. It can effectively strengthen the bonding between soft and hard tissues, promote the formation of dense hydroxyapatite layer, and quickly combine with bone tissue to induce and accelerate bone growth.