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Overview What is a biomaterial?

The concept ‘Biomaterial’ is fairly frequently encountered these days. Associated with advanced medical solutions and replacement of body parts, it has a slight futuristic nuance to it. But what is a biomaterial? And where and why is this used?

A biomaterial is a material designed to interact with the body Contrary to what the word may implicate, a biomaterial is not necessarily biological or based on bio-related matter. The material itself can be anything from a metal to a plastic to varieties of composites, but it can also be bio-inspired and derived from nature. The definition of a biomaterial is a already from the Mayan era, where the good understanding of material that is designed with the purpose tooth implants were made of nacre from and tailor for desired interaction to interact with the body, i.e. it is designed seashells. Throughout history, there are with the body. So, the material usage to reside in a biological environment. plenty of recordings of foreign material evolution has taken us from seashells in being more or less successfully introduced the Mayan period, to off-the-shelf materi- Biomaterial usage into the body. We have carbon parti- als such as , metals, and ceramics cle-based tattoos, sutures made of catgut after World War II, to engineered materials Typically, the purpose of a biomaterial is to and heads of biting ants, glass eyes, and designed for biocompatibility in modern replace a missing piece of a body part, by stainless-steel to name but a few. The times. Here we find silicones, , replicating the structure that is no longer scientific area of biomaterials science as we and , which today are there, or to enhance function. Think of know it today, however, is relatively new. commonly used. Now it is time for the next implants, such as joints, and heart It started around the 60s. At this time, we era. This aims to engineer materials which valves, skin transplants, vascular grafts, went from using the materials we had at are not only tolerated by the body, but and stents. Biomaterials are also used in our disposal to engineer materials with the which also have functional properties, i.e. less intrusive contexts, such as in contact intent of increasing the material integration properties that can be tuned for example lenses and wound care success rate, and the area of biomaterial to control the physiological environment science was born. and induce a response, such as tissue From foreign material being repair. tolerated by the body to Biocompatible and functional purposeful material design materials Reference Although the biomaterial concept has a Biomaterials Science, An introduction to materials in In the old days, of course, the concept and , 3rd ed. Edited by Buddy D. Ratner, Allan. S futuristic nuance to it, the desire and urge understanding of biocompatibility did not Hoffman, Frederick J. Shoen, Jack E. Lemons to mend a broken body is ancient. Attempts exist. Most likely, it was mere luck if the to replace or fix damaged or diseased body implanted material was tolerated by the parts has existed for thousands of years. body, and the patient did not suffer from There are recordings of dental implants any severe side-effects. Today we have a

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