Maria Dimitra Chiotelli

Visiting student, University of Thessaly, Greece

Title: Investigation of metallic and bioactive glass scaffolds

 

Supervisors in Erlangen: Muhammad Asim Akhtar, Usanee Pantulap, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Supervisor at University of Thessaly: Dr. Anna Zervaki

Chitosan/bioactive glass composite coatings on porous metallic structures

The growing need of a stable biological adhesion between human tissues and metallic implants leads to the development of surface modification of metallic parts used for orthopaedic applications. The aim of the present project is to produce composite coatings based on chitosan containing bioactive glass particles on porous Ta by using electrophoretic deposition (EPD) [1]. In addition to the microscopic characterization of the coatings, also their bioactivity in simulated body fluid (SBF) and in cell culture studies using osteoblast-like cells will be investigated.

[1] A. R. Boccaccini, et al., Electrophoretic deposition of biomaterials, Journal of the Royal Society Interface 7 (suppl_5), (2010) S581-S613.

 

3D Bioactive glass scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

During the last decades tissue engineering has been a promising field aiming to repair and regenerate damaged tissues and organs. Bioactive glass scaffolds [2] are being widely researched due to their ability to foster the attachment and proliferation of bone cells and their capacity to create strong bonds with both hard and soft tissues. The current study will involve experimental work to fabricate 3D bioactive glass scaffolds by the foam replica method. Such scaffolds will be characterized in terms of their microstructure, degradation behavior and bioactivity in simulated body fluid and in cell culture.

[2] A. A. El-Rashidy, et al., Regenerating bone with bioactive glass scaffolds: A review of in vivo studies in bone defect models, Acta Biomater. 62 (2017) 1-28.