Fabrication and evaluation of polylactide/bioactive glass composites for tissue engineering applications

Recent research in the field of bioactive glasses has shown that bioactive borate glasses hold strong potential as materials for tissue engineering in the areas of angiogenesis and potentially even nerve repair. The focus of the present work was to develop and evaluate flexible polymer/bioactive glass composite films for tissue engineering applications such as repairing peripheral nerves. Polylactide (PLA) composites containing up to 50 weight percent of bioactive borate and/or silicate glass particles (approximately 20 μm in diameter) were fabricated by solvent casting. The dried composites were then immersed in static simulated body fluid (SBF) at 37⁰C for 23 days during which time the degradation of the different composites was analyzed based on the amount of ions released from the bioactive glass. The favorable degradation characteristics of the composites indicated that the PLA/bioactive glass composites have potential to act as conduits for repairing damaged nerves