Breaking the Biocompatibility Barrier
A Biography of Bioglass
Published on 30. November 2021
Book
Hardback
300 pages
978-1-84816-679-0 (ISBN)
Description
This is the personal story of a remarkable discovery that has changed the course of medicine and repair of the human body. For millennia it was accepted that the human body would ultimately reject all foreign materials - the so-called "biocompatibility barrier". A fateful encounter between the author and a colonel in the US Army Medical Corps on a bus ride in 1967 led to research that created a special composition of glass that was not rejected - but in fact, became bonded to living bone. This unique material, called Bioglass, launched a revolution in repair of the human body by use of bioactive materials, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This is the story that chronicles the steps from the seminal concept of bioactivity to clinical repair of millions of patients. This is the story of a team of creative people on two continents working together. It is a story that offers hope to improve the quality of life for our aging population.
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Content
Prologue: Time Line of Concept to Commerce 1969-2009; Challenge; Concept; Design; Discovery!; Bioactive Bond? What to What?; Bioactive Bond? How?; Bioactive Bond? How Fast is Fast?; Bioactive Bond? Physical Chemistry or Biochemistry?; Bioactive Bond? How Strong?; To Bond or Not Bond? That is the Question!; Bioglass Coatings? The Strength Solution?; Bonding-Confirmed!; Publish or Patent? A Painful Dilemma; Bioactive Creativity in Kyoto; Bonding to Soft Tissues; Bioglass to the Clinic: Is It Safe?; Bioglass to the Clinic: Can You Hear?; Bioglass to the Clinic: A Glass Jaw?; Bioglass Commerce: Good Products and Bad Felons!; A Second Breakthrough!; From Tissue Replacement to Tissue Regeneration; Bioactive Genes; Tissue Regeneration: Head and Neck; Tissue Regeneration: Bones and Joints; New Bioglass Products: Save Your Teeth by Brushing Them with Bioglass; Gel-Glasses and Engineering of Bone; Two Big Questions: The Origin of Life? The Diversity of Life?; Epilogue: The Odyssey and Lessons Learned.