Members of the ICG Technical Committee Glasses for Medicine and Biotechnology (TC04) have summarized bio-glasses in a book dedicated to glasses and their variants, which can be used as biomaterials to repair diseased and damaged tissues. The volume aims to stimulate the interest of undergraduate and PhD students in this field.
Bio-glasses are currently one of most dynamic and exciting research areas in Glass Science. In this text, members of the ICG (International Commission on Glass) Technical Committee Glasses for Medicine and Biotechnology (TC04) have summarized the subject based on their expertise. The book is dedicated to glasses and their variants, which can be used as biomaterials to repair diseased and damaged tissues. In many respects bio-glasses are superior to other biomaterials, for example in promoting bone healing by signalling stem cells to become bone cells.
The volume aims to stimulate the interest of undergraduate and PhD students in this field; it is written in an accessible style such that non-experts can understand it and which facilitates the rapid absorption of information. In addition it is targeted at healthcare professionals and medics, who can use it to understand better this new category of materials.
The book covers all types of glasses: traditional glasses, bio-active glasses, sol-gel glasses, phosphate glasses, glass-ceramics, composites and hybrids. Alongside a discussion on how bio-glasses are made, their properties, and the reasons for their use, the authors also cover their applications in dentistry, bone regeneration, tissue engineering and cancer treatment. It offers invaluable guidance to the steps needed to take a new material from concept to clinic, covering the essentials of patenting, scaling-up, quality assurance and FDA approval.
Starting from the foreword by Larry Hench, the original inventor of Bioglass, and editors, Julian Jones (chair of TC04) and Alexis Clare, all the contributions have a high standard and are synchronized well together without any repetition.
ICG is a non-profit international Glass Society consisting of 37 national organizations in glass science and technology. The aim of ICG is to promote cooperation between glass experts. ICG organizes Technical Committee (TC) work (laboratory round robins, publication of scientific and technical papers). ICG organizes the International Congress on Glass every three years.