High strength bioactive glass-ceramic scaffolds for bone regeneration.

This research work is focused on the preparation of macroporous glass-ceramic scaffolds with high mechanical strength, equivalent with cancellous bone. The scaffolds were prepared using an open-cells polyurethane sponge as a template and glass powders belonging to the system SiO(2)-P(2)O(5)-CaO-MgO-Na(2)O-K(2)O. The glass, named as CEL2, was synthesized by a conventional melting-quenching route, ground and sieved to obtain powders of specific size. A slurry of CEL2 powders, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a binder and water was prepared in order to coat, by a process of impregnation, the polymeric template. A thermal treatment was then used to remove the sponge and to sinter the glass powders, in order to obtain a replica of the template structure. The scaffolds were characterized by means of X-ray diffraction analysis, morphological observations, density measurements, volumetric shrinkage, image analysis, capillarity tests, mechanical tests and in vitro bioactivity evaluation.