Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
To date, the use of biomaterials seems to have started from
antiquity and probably since the origins of human beings. The
evidence of their use as implants or prostheses were mainly
discovered during the two last centuries on human skeletons or skulls
during the excavations of sites which were attributed to different
civilizations of antiquity: Egyptian, Roman, Greek and Etruscan. It is
worthy to note that the literature is prolix about the “probable” uses of
biomaterials for dental applications by the antique civilizations and
even the following ones. This is probably due to the fact that since
antiquity, the proof of its use for dental applications were the most
numerous and/or variously encountered: wire to link teeth together,
teeth implants, filling materials, etc. In contrast, despite the full of
imagery vision of the replacement of injured or amputated limbs by
wooden pieces, it is quite difficult to find very ancient examples of
other medical applications and real uses of biomaterials such as in
ophthalmology, vascular surgery, orthopaedic surgery, etc. Such
examples would probably have taken place a long time after antiquity.
The question which arises is: did these materials really exist as
biomaterials - therapeutic purposes to replace missing teeth or limbs
of living men or were they only used to improve the esthetical aspect
of remains and of graves? The response to the last question is of
importance to certify the exact beginning of the use of biomaterials for
organ repairing.
Only historians can date the beginning of the existence of
“biomaterials” and bring the proof of its literal use, that is material to
mitigate a deficiency of all or part of a hurt or wounded organ. As a
matter of fact, recently questioned historians said that they had never
heard about the use of biomaterials in antiquity. Despite this
interrogation something in the history of biomaterials sounds very
strange. Whereas in the first civilizations human beings had yet to
imagine their uses and found the necessity of their use in aiding
deficiencies of some of their organs or parts of organs, today the term
“biomaterials” is neither correctly or currently used except for the
“specialists of the domain” although everybody in his/her life will
have to face its use and to understand how it works. Therefore, the
existence of biomaterials is very ancient while the science of
biomaterials appeared very recently.
