Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Biomaterials have moved merely from interacting with the host body
to inl uencing biological processes towards the goal of tissue regenera-
tion. However, a more recent dei nition has been prescribed. According
to Williams [3], “A bio material is a substance that has been engineered to
take a form which, alone or as part of a complex system, is used to direct,
by control of interactions with components of living systems, the course
of any therapeutic or diagnostic procedure, in human or veterinary medi-
cine.” Dif erent types of materials can be found depending on the function
to be performed or on the tissue to be replaced in our daily life.
Biomaterials have been very ot en originated from materials used in
diverse research areas that presented desirable and systematic mechani-
cal properties but were not specii cally designed to interact with the
nearby and surrounding tissues or with blood [4]. Among those materi-
als, glasses for skeletal repair and reconstruction and the employment
of ceramics has been increased due to increases in both life expectancy
and the social obligations to provide a better and advanced quality of life.
Depending on the type of ceramics employed, the size and their interac-
tion with the host tissue, they can be highly categorized as either bio-
active or bio-inert, and the bioactive ceramics can be re-absorbable or
non re-absorbable [5]. h ese materials, which may be produced in both
porous and dense forms as well as powders, granulates or coating forms
are known as bio-ceramics. [5, 6]
From the chemical point of view and the dif erent aspect, bio-ceramics
can be prepared from, calcium phosphates, silica-containing compounds
alumina, zirconium, carbon and some other chemicals. Among them,
phosphates can be used to produce generative biomaterials since they pres-
ent bone integration and high biocompatibility, and also represent, sim-
plii es a similar composition to the inorganic fraction of bones. In fact,
bio-ceramics are now used in a various number of dif erent applications
throughout the body generally covering all areas of skeleton. h ere has
been a chronological evolution in the i eld of research of ceramics as bone
substitutes. [7, 8]
According to Williams [9], “Biocompatibility is the ability of a material
to perform with an appropriate host response in a specii c application.”
7.2 h
e Evolution of the Bio-advance Materials Fields
h e bio-advance materials community has been the major contribution to
the understanding and inl uencing of the interactions of materials with the
physiological environment.
