Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 6.15
SEM image of a hollow HCA shell made by reacting a borate glass in
a phosphate solution. The shell was intentionally broken to show the hollow centre.
The shell diameter is
∼
150
μ
m.
tissues for days to weeks. An SEM image of the hollow HCA sphere is
shown in Figure 6.15.
6.9 COMMERCIAL PRODUCT DESIGN
As a manufacturer of biomedical materials, and having developed many
of the bioactive borate glass compositions discussed in this chapter, I
can say that biomaterial design and product development are two totally
different activities. They sound similar, but they are in fact very different.
Biomaterial design is the development of a new material composition,
perhaps a bioactive borate glass. This material can be characterized for
several properties related to the material itself, or perhaps how it interacts
biologically. Ideally, once the material composition is determined, it
would be made into a product to serve some medical need. Depending
on the application, the product could be a rigid scaffold or a flexible
fiber mat.
The material composition should obviously be an effective component
in whatever application is picked, but the form in which the material
is delivered is what ultimately will sell the device. This may seem odd,
since in university we are taught about material properties and how
to maximize these for our application. So the science is what should
