Development of soluble glasses for biomedical use Part I: In vitro solubility measurement

In this study soluble glasses have been developed for biomedical applicatio ns containing P2O5 as a network former and CaO and Na2O as modifiers. This study shows that as expected, the glasses have an inverse exponential relat ionship between solubility and CaO content. Furthermore, there is evidence for compositional related non-linearity in the dissolution of the glasses w ith time. This is thought to be due to either layer formation on the glass surface hindering ion diffusion, ion exchange process or change of ionic st rength of the solution. Bioactivity of these glasses is indicated by the fo rmation of a brushite precipitate, a precursor to apatite formation. Furthe r evidence for bioactivity is also presented in the second part of this pap er. (C) 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers.