Hollow glass microspheres as potential adjunct with orthopaedic metal implants

• Hollow glass microspheres (HGMs) prepared via Flame Spraying Technique.
• Precursors were Amber Glass Frits from laboratory waste glass.
• In vitro bioactivity determined by SBF soaking studies.
• Hydroxyapatite (HA) development confirmed the bioactivity of HGMs.
• HA formation confirmed by morphology and X-ray diffraction studies.

Glass particles both in nano and micro scale; have found applications in the medical field, like tissue engineering, controlled delivery vehicles for drugs, proteins, antibiotics, etc. They are used in the form of bioactive glass, polymeric bioactive glass scaffolds, and hollow/porous glass microspheres. The hollow glass microspheres are thin walled, porous glass microspheres 10–100 μm or more in diameter. The unique properties of the microspheres which make them a potential candidate for bio-medical applications are their mechanical strength, biocompatible nature, small easily administrable size, high surface area, even distribution, light weight, specific buoyant density and controllable pores allowing selective uptake and release of bio molecules. There are a couple of well established HGMs preparation methods listed in literature, where rotating arc plasma and vertical tube furnace are used to spheroidize the raw material sprayed in powder or slurry form. In this research work, we have prepared HGMs from amber colored glass frits by flame spheroidization method. Prepared HGMs were then soaked in Simulated Body Fluid (SBF) for in vitro bioactivity determination. HGMs were soaked for 1–2 weeks and bioactivity was confirmed by the development of hydroxyapatite (HA) layer over the surface of HGMs. The HA formation was confirmed by the crystalline peak of HA obtained in X-ray diffraction spectra owing to the presence of crystalline calcium phosphate layer of HA, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 as well as by determining weight percentage of corresponding elements by EDS Spectra. In vitro bioactivity of HGMs thus makes them biocompatible and renders them for use in orthopaedics field. They can contribute effectively when used in conjunction with metallic implants in order to enhance its mechanical strength as well as biocompatibility.

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