Fabrication of bioactive glass–ceramic foams mimicking human bone portions for regenerative medicine

A technique for the preparation of bioglass foams for bone tissue engineering is presented. The process is based on the in situ foaming of a bioglass-loaded polyurethane foam as the intermediate step for obtaining a bioglass porous monolith, starting from sol–gel synthesized bioglass powders. The obtained foams were characterized using X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy observations. The material was assessed by soaking samples in simulated body fluid and observing apatite layer formation. Diagnostic imaging taken from human patients was used to reconstruct a human bone portion, which was used to mould a tailored scaffold fabricated using the in situ foaming technique. The results confirmed that the obtained bioactive materials prepared with three-dimensional processing are promising for applications in reconstructive surgery tailored to each single patient.