Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
5.1 MATERIALS IN MEDICINE: FROM PROSTHETICS
TO REGENERATION
Throughout the ages, materials used in medicine (biomaterials) have made an enormous
impact on the treatment of injury and disease of the human body. Biomaterials use increased
rapidly in the late 1800s, particularly after the advent of aseptic surgical technique by
Dr. Joseph Lister in the 1860s. The first metal devices to fix bone fractures were used as early
as the late eighteenth to nineteenth centuries, the first total hip replacement prosthesis was
implanted in 1938, and in the 1950s and 1960s, polymers were introduced for cornea replace-
ments and as blood vessel replacements. Today, biomaterials are used throughout the body
(Figure 5.1). Estimates of the numbers of biomedical devices incorporating biomaterials used
in the United States in 2006 include the following:
Total hip joint replacements: 579,271
Knee joint replacements: 1,349,641
Shoulder joint replacements: 49,000
Dental implants: 1,040,172
Coronary stents: 1,489,980
Coronary catheters: 1,648,235
Millions of lives have been saved due to biomaterials, and the quality of life for millions
more is improved every year due to biomaterials. The field remains a rich area for research
and invention because no one material is suitable for all biomaterial applications, and new
applications are continually being developed as medicine advances. In addition, there are
still many unanswered questions regarding the biological response to biomaterials and
Impact of Biomaterials
Artificial ear
Cochlear implant
Nasal implants
Dental materials
Mandibular mesh
Artificial skin
Pacemaker
Hydrocephalus shunt
Ocular lens, contact lens
Orbital floor
Artificial chin
Blood substitutes
Shoulder prosthesis
Artificial heart, Heart valves
Breast prosthesis
Artificial kidney
Glucose biosensor
Dialysis shunts, catheters
Adsorbable pins
Temporary tendons
Hip implant
Finger joint
Pectus implant
Birth control implant
Vascular grafts
Artificial liver
Spinal fixation
Cartilage replacement
Artificial leg
Ankle implant
Testicular prosthesis
FIGURE 5.1
Biomaterials have made an enormous impact on the treatment of injury and disease and are used
throughout the body.
