Bioactivity of the active glasses

Medicine requires newer and newer materials to repair or substitute tissues or replace functions. Active galsses have been developed for 20 years in order to help bone in reconstruction. many researcher have syntetized glasses that during implantation degrade releasing ions used by cells for their metabolism. Bone reconstruction is helped by these ions both in tems of quantity and in time. At the bone-glass interface the outer glass layer, rich in Calcium and Phosphorous, chemically bonds bone to the material. The glass degradation and the interface developed after implantation depend principally on the chemical composition of the material. The compositions of some glasses are presented with the interfaces created with bone or soft tissues during the in-vivo implantation. The morphology of the embedded cross-sections under scanning Electron Microscope is shown with the relevant X-ray dot maps for principal elements. An Energy Dispersive System applied to a SEM detects the inorganic elements present in the glass and their topographic distribution in the material before and after implantation giving the image of degradation of the glass and showing its bioactivity.