Strong, Tough Bioactive Glasses and Composite Scaffolds

The need for implants to repair and regenerate damaged hard tissues, particularly bone, is driving the development of bioactive glass and composites with the requisite mechanical strength and toughness. The use of design principles and novel fabrication technologies are paving the way to create synthetic biomaterials with promising potential for reconstituting bone in load-bearing sites. This chapter focuses on recent advances in the development and use of bioactive glass scaffolds for bone tissue engineering applications. The state-of-the-art in the design and fabrication of bioactive glass and composite scaffolds that have improved mechanical properties for structural bone repair is reviewed. Potential toughening mechanisms to enable tough glass and composites are also discussed here.