Silver-doped ferrimagnetic and bioactive devitrified glass for bone tumor treatment and infection prevention

Bone tumors and the resulting complications, such as the development of infections in patients immunosuppressed by conventional therapies, remain an important issue, since they can cause serious problems such as bone weakness, fractures, pain and metastases. In this work, a magnetic and antibacterial devitrified glass for bone tumor treatment and infection prevention is proposed. The magnetic devitrified glass was synthesized by the melt and quenching route, while the antibacterial effect was conferred by introducing silver through the ion exchange process, by varying silver concentration. The obtained materials were characterized from a morphological, compositional and structural point of view, evidencing the silver introduction both in metallic and ionic form. The calorimetric test evidenced the samples’ ability to release heat, useful for hyperthermia treatment, when subjected to an alternating magnetic field. Finally, in vitro bioactivity tests revealed that the introduced silver did not alter the reactivity of the material, and a preliminary evaluation of the antibacterial effect demonstrated a significant inhibition zone against S. aureus. Therefore, the developed material exhibits promising characteristics for application in hyperthermia-based bone tumor treatment, while also providing antibacterial properties