The Development of Bioglass Ceramics for Medical Applications

Abstract The enormous progress made in the field of medicine over the past few decades has been partly due to the introduction of new instruments but also a result of the use of new materials. It is impossible to imagine modern medicine without metals, alloys, sintered corundum, organic high polymers (also as composite materials), glassy carbon, etc. Bioglass ceramics open up new possibilities for medical treatment and constitute a new area of research in the natural sciences and medicine. Owing to their widely variable combinations of properties, bioglass ceramics can be more easily adapted to suit medical requirements than can customary implants. Two properties of bioglass ceramics are of primary importance: their biocompatibility, i.e., acceptance of the material by the tissues of the human body without irritation, rejection reactions, or toxic effects; and their bioactivity, i.e., the ability to establish firm intergrowths with tissues of the human body. This property is not shared by any of the classical biomaterials. A wide range of applications is envisaged for the bioglass ceramics that have so far been developed; some are still undergoing animal tests while others are being clinically tested in humans. Possible applications are the replacement of vertebrae and use in the middle ear, throat, nose, and eye, in the entire head region, in the shoulder and leg, and in dental prosthetics, in particular the replacement of dental roots (a hard tissue substitute in the broadest sense of the word). The question as to the behavior of a bone/bioglass ceramic contact or bond on a long‐term scale and on being exposed to varying mechanical stress has still not been satisfactorily answered, because interdisciplinary research in this field is still immature. All observations made so far indicate, however, that the materials do not cause any adverse effects.