Effects of porosity and crystallinity of glass ceramics on the in vivo bioactive response.

Two types of glass ceramics with different porosities and crystallinities were produced by sintering 45S5 Bioglass particulates. The in vivo bioactive response of the glass ceramics was evaluated by implanting them in rabbit muscle sites. After six weeks implantation, silicon-rich networks were observed on both types of ceramics, but the number of networks was much larger in the poorly crystallized dense ceramics than in the well crystallized porous ones. This indicated that the crystallization of glass ceramics retarded the formation of networks on surfaces. Apatite precipitation was found in pore areas of the porous ceramics, but not on the dense ones, suggesting that porosity was necessary for glass ceramics to induce apatite precipitation in a rabbit model.