CHAPTER 12: Recent Advances in the Development and Applications of Phosphate and Borate Glass Microspheres

An overview of recent findings and advancements concerning development of phosphate and borate glass microspheres, their manufacturing processes and potential use in biomedical applications are presented in this chapter. Phosphate and Borate glasses of varying compositions in the form of solid (non-porous) and highly porous microspheres are discussed. This chapter also highlights the methodologies used for the manufacture of these microspheres, including a very recent breakthrough development of a single-stage manufacturing process to produce highly porous microspheres from these glasses. The advantages of using microspheres in terms of their injectability/delivery to target site, dissolution, in vitro bioactivity and in vivo biocompatibility properties for bone repair applications are also presented.