Anti-bacterial glass formulations for bone tissue engineering applications

One of the major problems in Bone Tissue Engineering (BTE) is the high probability of occurring bacterial contamination during preparation and surgical procedures. Bacterial strains such as Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa proved to be hard to eliminate from bone grafts. Silica-based bioglasses, namely the silica-borate system, can take advantage of the well-known boron antibacterial properties. In fact, bioglasses have been used in BTE for several decades due to their biological activity and mechanical performance. The aim of this study is to evaluate the anti-bacterial properties of silica-borate glass formulations to use them within a BTE perspective.