Research by Prof. Del Day, Prof. Len Rahaman and Prof. Dick Brow has targeted the development of bioactive glasses and bioceramics to repair bone, heal soft tissue wounds and eradicate infection. A challenge has been to develop bioactive glass scaffolds with the requisite mechanical reliability and microstructure to heal large defects in structural bone. Research in the Missouri S&T has shown, for the first time, the ability to create such bioactive glass scaffolds. The approach uses a combination of finite element modeling and additive manufacturing (robocasting) to design and create strong porous bioactive glass scaffolds like those shown in the picture below.
Photo Credit: Sam O’Keefe/Missouri S&T