Bioactive Glasses in Medical Applications

Dear Colleagues,

The conceptualization of bioactive glasses caused a revolution in healthcare and paved the way for modern biomaterial-driven regenerative medicine. The first bioactive glass composition, invented by Larry Hench in 1969, was able to bond to living bone and stimulate osteogenesis. Since then, many other bioactive glass compositions have been developed, and some of them finally reached clinical use in an expanding range of forms and applications. The use of bioactive glasses and glass–ceramics is mainly addressed to repair bone and dental defects; however, their full potential seems yet to be fulfilled, and many of today’s achievements—including cancer treatment, controlled drug release, and skin regeneration—were at one point unthinkable. As a result, the research involving bioactive glasses and glass–ceramics is highly stimulating and continuously progressing across various disciplines, including chemistry, materials science, bioengineering, biology, and medicine. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an overview of the most recent advances in the field of bioactive glasses and glass–ceramics in the medical area.

Therefore, we are collecting selected contributions on all the aspects relevant to the design, development, and applications of these biomaterials. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• synthesis of bioactive glasses;
• crystallization of bioactive glasses—production and manufacturing of bioactive glass-derived products (coatings, scaffolds etc.) by innovative approaches;
• new therapeutic potential provided by ion doping, drug incorporation, and surface functionalization;
• multifunctional bioactive glass-based systems;
• characterization and testing methodologies;
• modelling and simulation;
• in vitro/in vivo studies and clinical applications.

Dr. Francesco Baino
Dr. Julietta V. Rau
Guest Editors

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