Abstract
Synthetic bone transplantation has emerged in recent years as a highly promising strategy to address the major clinical challenge of bone tissue defects. In this field, bioactive glasses (BGs) have been widely recognized as a viable alternative to traditional bone substitutes due to their unique advantages, including favorable biocompatibility, pronounced bioactivity, excellent biodegradability, and superior osseointegration properties. This article begins with a comprehensive overview of the development and success of BGs in bone tissue engineering, and then focuses on their composite reinforcement systems with biodegradable metals, calcium-phosphorus (Ca-P)-based bioceramics, and biodegradable medical polymers, respectively. Moreover, the article outlines some frequently used manufacturing methods for three-dimensional BG-based bone bioscaffolds and highlights the remarkable achievements of these scaffolds in the field of bone defect repair in recent years. Lastly, based on the many potential challenges encountered in the preparation and application of BGs, a brief outlook on their future directions is presented. This review may help to provide new ideas for researchers to develop ideal BG-based bone substitutes for bone reconstruction and functional recovery.
Impact Statement
The combination of bioactive glasses (BGs) with other materials (biodegradable metals, Ca-P-based bioceramics, and biodegradable medical polymers) not only significantly enhances the mechanical properties, biocompatibility, osteoconductivity, and osteoinductivity of BGs, but also effectively regulates their biodegradation rate, offering more options and optimization for bone defect repair. In addition, the combination of the characteristics of BG-based composites and the advantages of three-dimensional preparation techniques highlights the great potential of BG-based bioscaffolds for regenerative repair of bone defects. This work contributes to the ongoing efforts in tissue engineering and lays the foundation for developing more effective bone substitutes for clinical applications.
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