Cobalt containing glass fibres and their synergistic effect on the HIF-1 pathway for wound healing applications.

Chronic wounds are a major healthcare problem, but their healing may be improved by developing biomaterials which can stimulate angiogenesis, e.g. by activating the Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) pathway.

Hyaluronic acid hydrogels reinforced with laser spun bioactive glass micro- and nanofibres doped with lithium.

The repair of articular cartilage lesions in weight-bearing joints remains as a significant challenge due to the low regenerative capacity of this tissue. Hydrogels are candidates to repair lesions as they have similar properties to cartilage extracellular matrix but they are unable to meet the mechanical and biological requirements for a successful outcome. Here, we reinforce hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels with 13-93-lithium bioactive glass micro- and nanofibres produced by laser spinning.

Laser Microdrilling of Slate Tiles.

Slate is a natural rock usually used in roofs, façades, and for tiling. In spite of this broad use, the production process of slate tiles requires substantial improvements. An important quantity of slate from the quarry is wasted during the manufacturing of the final product.

Laser Cutting: A Review on the Influence of Assist Gas.

Assist gas plays a central role in laser fusion cutting. In this work, the aerodynamic interactions between the assist gas and the workpiece are reviewed. An insight into those phenomena that hinder the cutting quality and performance is provided.

Fabrication of Zn-Sr-doped laser-spinning glass nanofibers with antibacterial properties.

The morphology and dimensions of bioactive materials are essential attributes to promote tissue culture. Bioactive materials with nanofibrous structure have excellent potential to be used as bone-defect fillers, since they mimic the collagen in the extracellular matrix. On the other hand, bioactive glasses with applications in regenerative medicine may present antibacterial properties, which depend on glass composition, concentration and the microorganisms tested.

Toward smart implant synthesis: bonding bioceramics of different resorbability to match bone growth rates.

Craniofacial reconstructive surgery requires a bioactive bone implant capable to provide a gradual resorbability and to adjust to the kinetics of new bone formation during healing. Biomaterials made of calcium phosphate or bioactive glasses are currently available, mainly as bone defect fillers, but it is still required a versatile processing technique to fabricate composition-gradient bioceramics for application as controlled resorption implants. Here it is reported the application of rapid prototyping based on laser cladding to produce three-dimensional bioceramic implants comprising of a calcium phosphate inner core, with moderate in vitro degradation at physiological pH, surrounded by a bioactive glass outer layer of higher degradability.

Nanocomposites of silver nanoparticles embedded in glass nanofibres obtained by laser spinning.

Nanocomposites made of non-woven glass fibres with diameters ranging from tens of nanometers up to several micrometers, containing silver nanoparticles, were successfully fabricated by the laser spinning technique. Pellets of a soda-lime silicate glass containing silver nanoparticles with varying concentrations (5 and 10 wt%) were used as a precursor. The process followed to obtain the silver nanofibres did not agglomerate significantly the metallic nanoparticles, and the average particle size is still lower than 50 nm.