Additive manufacturing (AM) has significantly boosted the development of the healthcare and medical device industries, with applications spanning a wide range—from orthotics and prosthetics to 3D printed scaffolds for organ and tissue transplantation. Alongside the aerospace sector, healthcare is one of the best fields for the application of additive manufacturing. The high level of customization enabled by 3D printing, often using specialized or difficult-to-process materials, makes this technology particularly well-suited to the medical industry, where each product is uniquely tailored.
One of the latest advances in this area comes from a team of six Chinese researchers from institutions including Chongqing Medical University, Dalian University of Technology, and Henan Polytechnic University. Together, they have developed a type of 3D printable bioactive glass that can serve as a substitute material for bone tissue. According to the researchers, in experiments on rabbits, this 3D printed glass promoted bone growth even more effectively than commercially available bone substitutes.
The reason for using glass in this specific application is that its crystal structure exhibits material properties similar to those of bone, and its main component, silica, can be liquefied and printed. What distinguishes this material from other 3D printed silicate materials is its biocompatibility and relatively low melting temperature.
Researchers combined oppositely charged silica particles with calcium and phosphate ions—both known to induce bone cell formation—to create a printable bioactive glass gel. After shaping the glass using a 3D printer, they hardened it into its final form in a high-temperature furnace at 700°C. They then tested the new bioglass by repairing skull defects in live rabbits, comparing it with 3D-printed conventional silica glass gel and a commercially available dental bone substitute.
While the commercial product promoted faster initial bone growth, the bioglass sustained growth over a longer period. After eight weeks, most bone cells had grown on the bioglass scaffold. The researchers stated that this study demonstrates a simple and low-cost method for 3D printing bioglass bone substitutes, showing promising potential for broad applications in medicine and engineering.
Although titanium is often preferred for bone implants due to its lightweight and biocompatible nature, its high strength makes it difficult to directly replace bone. Consequently, biomedical engineers may require extensive computational resources to model and simulate geometric adjustments of titanium replacement parts to prevent post-surgical harm to patients. If this new bioglass alternative proves viable, it could significantly impact the use of additive manufacturing for bone replacements.
