Stimulus-responsive smart bioactive glass composites for repair of complex tissue defects.

Smart biomaterials with active environmental responsiveness have attracted widespread attention in recent years. Previous studies on bioactive glass (BG) have mainly focused on the property of bioactivity, while little attention has been paid to the property of smart response of BG. Herein, we propose the concept of Smart Bioactive Glass Composites (SBGC) which are capable of actively responding to the endogenous disease microenvironment or exogenous physical stimuli, thereby enabling active treatment of tissue defect sites and ultimately promoting tissue regeneration. In this review, the response characteristics of SBGC to different internal and external environments are described. Subsequently, the applications of SBGC in complex tissue defect repair of tumors, infections, and diabetes are reviewed. By deeply analyzing the recent progress of SBGC in different fields, this review will point out the direction for the research of next-generation BG.