Bioactive composites for bone regeneration

Abstract

Bone, the organ that separates vertebrates from other living beings, is a complex tissue responsible of mobility, body stability, organ protection, and metabolic activities such as ion storage. Ceramic materials are appropriate candidates to be used in the fabrication of scaffolds for bone healing. Biocompatible ceramic materials may also be created to deliver biologically active substances aimed at maintaining, repairing, restoring, or boosting the function of tissues and organs in the organism. Glass-ceramic materials furnish flexible properties appropriate for some particular applications. Because of the controlled devitrification and the evolution of variable dimensions of crystalline and glassy phases, glass-ceramics considerably overcome the lacunae found in glasses. A wide range of bioactive glass compositions had been developed since the early 1970s to make them appropriate for many clinical applications. Many bioactive ceramic composite materials attach to living bone through an apatite layer, which is developed on their surfaces in the living body. This paper reviews the most used bioactive ceramics for bone tissue regeneration, with specific accentuation on the material characteristics.