Glass microspheres for medical applications

Radioactive dysprosium lithium borate glass microspheres have been developed as biodegradable radiation delivery vehicles for the radiation synovectomy treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Once injected into a diseased joint, the microspheres deliver a potent dose of radiation to the diseased tissue, while a non-uniform chemical reaction converts the glass into an amorphous, porous, hydrated dysprosium phosphate reaction product. The non-radioactive, lithium-borate component is dissolved from the glass (up to 94% weight loss), while the radioactive 165Dy reacts with phosphate anions in the body fluids, and becomes "chemically" trapped in a solid, dysprosium phosphate reaction product that has the same size as the un-reacted glass microsphere.;Ethylene diamine tetraacetate (EDTA) chelation therapy can be used to dissolve the dysprosium phosphate reaction product after the radiation delivery has subsided. The dysprosium phosphate reaction product, which formed in vivo in the joint of a Sprague-Dawley rat, was dissolved by EDTA chelation therapy in <1 week, without causing any detectable joint damage. The combination of dysprosium lithium borate glass microspheres and EDTA chelation therapy provides an unique "tool" for the medical community, which can deliver a large dose (>100 Gy) of localized beta radiation to a treatment site within the body, followed by complete biodegradability.;The non-uniform reaction process is a desirable characteristic for a biodegradable radiation delivery vehicle, but it is also a novel material synthesis technique that can convert a glass to a highly porous materials with widely varying chemical composition by simple, low-temperature, glass/solution reaction. The reaction product formed by nonuniform reaction occupies the same volume as the un-reacted glass, and after drying for 1 h at 300°C, has a specific surface area of ≈200 m2/g, a pore size of ≈30 nm, and a nominal crushing strength of ≈10 MPa.;Finally, rhenium glass microspheres, composed of micron-sized, metallic rhenium particles dispersed within a magnesium alumino borate glass matrix were produced by sintering ReO2 powder and glass frit at 1050°C. A 50 mg injection of radioactive rhenium glass microspheres containing 3.7 GBq of 186Re and 8.5 GBq of 188Re could be used to deliver a 100 Gy dose to a cancerous tumor, while limiting the total body dose caused by rhenium dissolution to approximately 1 mGy.