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SUMMARY:Bioactive glasses and their hybrids as scaffolds for regenerative 
 medicine - Dr Julian Jones\, Department of Materials\, Imperial College Lo
 ndon\, UK
DTSTART:20121026T130000Z
DTEND:20121026T140000Z
UID:TALK40398@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Tracy Inman
DESCRIPTION:300 000 bone graft operations take place in Europe each year. 
 Surgeons currently prefer to take bone from the pelvis and move it to a de
 fect site but it is painful\, can lead to complications and the recovery r
 ate is slow. A synthetic graft material is required that can help the body
  regenerate bone defects. There are many design criteria for a scaffold or
  effective regeneration of bone defects. A scaffold must stimulate bone gr
 owth\, dissolving as the bone regenerates. To be an effective template the
  scaffold must have an interconnected pore network and for new bone to sur
 vive\, blood vessels must penetrate. Scaffolds with this potential have be
 en developed by foaming bioactive glasses. Bioactive glasses are thought t
 o stimulate new bone growth by activating specific genes in bone cells. Th
 ere is potential for the scaffolds to be used in tissue engineering applic
 ations\, where cells are first cultured on the scaffold prior to implantat
 ion. The latest generation of bioactive glass scaffolds will be shown and 
 products will be available in the near future. In vitro and in vivo result
 s will be discussed. The stem cell response to scaffolds and nanoparticles
  will be described. The limitation of bioactive glasses is that they are b
 rittle. Composites have been developed but the inorganic and organic phase
 s tend to resorb at different rates\, leading to material instability. Hyb
 rids have the potential to have bespoke design of mechanical properties an
 d congruent degradation through interpenetrating networks of inorganic and
  organic components\, e.g. sol-gel silica and biodegradable polymers. Cova
 lent coupling between the components is critical to their success. How hyb
 rids can support blood vessel growth will also be demonstrated.
LOCATION:Small Lecture Theatre\, Cavendish Laboratory
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