Rigid Porous Bioactive Glass Granules - Porogran(Patent Pending)

Porogran is a porous granule composed of bioactive glass fibers or particles, which may be made from several popular bioactive glass compositions such as 45S5 and S53P4.  These granules may be made rigid or they can be more flexible.  Both forms will allow for easy compaction into a cavity and the granule will resorb at an accelerated rate compared to fully dense particles due to the connected open porosity.   Due to the porous microstructure of the granule and the well known biocompatibility of bioactive glasses, these porous granules are an excellent biomaterial for damaged bone or soft tissue.  The porosity may also serve a haemostatic advantage over dense particles as the capillary action of the open pores may promote the formation of a blood clot.  The porous nature of the particles may have uses in drug delivery applications.  Depending on the bioactive glass chosen, partially or fully crystallized versions of these granules may also be available.

The image on the left shows a Porogran particle composed of bonded 45S5 fibers (~5 to 10µm in diameter).  The example particle shown in the left is approximately 2mm in diameter, but different sizes are available upon request.  A higher magnification image of the surface of a Porogran particle (45S5 fibers) is shown on the right.  The particles are composed of fibers that have been bonded which make a highly open microstructure with open and continuous porosity throughout.

The image above shows Porogran composed of bonded 45S5 particles (mean diameter of ~10µm).  This porous granule is another example of a porous microstructure that is available if increased reactivity or the advantages of pores are important to your potential product. 

The image to the left is porogran composed of ~10µm S53P4 particles.  The microstructure is similar to the 45S5 above, but this example illustrates another popular bioactive glass composition that is available for product development.