Glasses and Glass–Ceramics for Biomedical Applications

The invention of bioactive glasses has undoubtedly represented an important watershed in the history of biomedicine, innovatively revolutionizing the key concept of biomaterials. Although 50 years have passed since the first bioactive glass (45S5 Bioglass®), these materials still continue to inspire numerous generations of researchers all over the world, attracted by the promise of numerous possible fields of investigations given by the versatility of glass manufacturing and processing strategies. This allows obtaining final clinical products that are incredibly diverse in terms of chemical characteristics, shape and texture and, therefore, adaptable to different therapeutic needs. The possibility to tune textural properties and degradation rates, perform high-temperature sintering processes without or minimally altering the original properties of the glass, as well as the facile introduction of therapeutically active ions within the composition and the easy surface functionalization led, over year, to the development of multiple pruducts to be used in various clinical fields, including the regeneration of both hard and soft tissues, bacterial/viral infection treatments and development of antitumoral strategies. This chapter opens a wide window on the world of bioactive glasses, starting with the description of their peculiar chemical properties, discussed in relation to the most commonly used manufacturing processes to obtain glass monoliths or particles. Then, an overview on the most common applications of BG-based products will be provided, paying particular attention to porous scaffolds for bone tissue engineering, bioactive coatings, antibacterial glasses and surface functionalization. In conclusion, a comprehensive overview on clinical applications updated to the state of the art will be provided.