Investigating the surface reactivity of SiO2-TiO2-CaO-Na2O/SrO bioceramics as a function of structure and incubation time in simulated body fluid.

This study focuses on evaluating the biocompatibility of a SiO2-TiO2-CaO-Na2O/SrO glass and glass-ceramic series. Glass and ceramic samples were synthesized and characterized using X-ray diffraction. Each material was subject to maturation in simulated body fluid over 1, 7 and 30 days to describe any changes in surface morphology. Calcium phosphate (CaP) deposition was observed predominantly on the Na(+) containing amorphous and crystalline materials, with plate-like morphology. The precipitated surface layer was also observed to crystallize with respect to maturation, which was most evident in the amorphous Na(+) containing glasses, Ly-N and Ly-C. The addition of Sr(2+) greatly reduced the solubility of all samples, with limited CaP precipitation on the amorphous samples and no deposition on the crystalline materials. The morphology of the samples was also different, presenting irregular plate-like structures (Ly-N), needle-like deposits (Ly-C) and globular-like structures (Ly-S). Cell culture analysis presented a significant increase in cell viability with the Na(+) materials, 134%, while the Sr(2+) containing glasses, 60-80% and ceramics, 60-85% presented a general reduction in cell viability, however these reductions were not significant.