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Abstract
Biomedical materials science is a field of science that has been used for the
last few decades. As the introduction of new biomedical materials gave
better outcomes, we have started using them more often within the field of
cardiology. Improvements in biomedical materials research have led to
discovering new approaches to dealing with certain types of heart diseases.
This research will include the physical and mechanical properties of the
different materials that are used in this field of medicine.

Introduction:
For years, there is performed study about the properties of
materials that could be successfully implanted into the human
body. These studies show that these materials are a specific
group of materials that are characterized by different material
composition, chemical structure and mechanical, chemical and
biological properties.
Biomaterial: A synthetic material used to make devices to replace
part of a living system or to function in intimate contact with
living tissue
Biomaterials are used to make devices to replace a part or a
function of the body in safe, reliably economically, and
physiologically acceptable manner. A variety of devices and
materials are used in the treatment of disease or injury.
Commonplace examples include suture needles, plates, teeth
fillings, etc.
The science of biomedical materials involves a study of the
composition and properties of materials and the way in which
they interact with the environment in which they are placed.

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Body:
Biomaterials
Biomaterials are mainly used in three fields concerning the heart,
the production of cardiac pacemakers, artificial heart valves, and
the production of totally artificial hearts. The main criterias to be
taken into account in the selection of the biomaterial used in
those productions are: selection of materials for implants and
their applications, environmental impact on the behavior of the
living body of the implant, the basic assumptions of
bioavailability, tissue reaction mechanisms, biophysical,
biochemical and biomechanical requirements placed implants,
corrosion and abrasion and degradation of a variety of
biomaterials, and surface layering if needed. The main groups of
biomaterials used include: bioceramics, polymers, composite
materials and metals and their alloys.
Properties of biomaterials
To each of the groups are advantages and disadvantages that
depend on the properties of the material to be used. The material
selected undergoes processing if need be to match the
characteristics we want and need. The most frequently used
ceramic implant materials include aluminum oxides, calcium
phosphates, and apatites and graphite. Glasses have also been
developed for medical applications. The use of ceramics was
motivated by: (i) their inertness in the body, (ii) their formability
into a variety of shapes and porosities, (iii) their high compressive

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strength, and (iv) some cases their excellent wear characteristics.
Applications of ceramics include the production of heart valves.
The biomaterials in details:
Applications of ceramics are in some cases limited by their
generally poor mechanical properties: (a) in tension; (b) load
bearing, implant devices that are to be subjected to significant
tensile stresses must be designed and manufactured with great
care if ceramics are to be safely used. . However, for a material to
be successful in an artificial valve it must be highly fatigue
resistant. It must be noted that a pure ceramic heart valve might
break and cause the death of the patient so we use prolyctic
carbon which exhibits properties of ceramics, metals and
polymers. Pyrolytic carbon is ductile making it more difficult for a
crack to occur in the first place.
Heart valves
For patients with significant heart valve disease, surgical options for treatment include valve repair or
replacement. The choice between repair and replacement is influenced by a number of factors
including age, type of the valve disease and other medical conditions. When valve replacement is
performed, there are options of mechanical or tissue heart valves. These two classes of valves confer
different characteristics and each have their advantages and disadvantages. Mechanical heart valves
are made from materials such as titanium and carbon. They usually consist of two leaflets and a
metal ring surrounded by a ring of knitted fabric, which is sewn onto the heart in place of the original
valve. There are several different models available for aortic and mitral replacement surgeries. The
main advantage of mechanical valves is that they are very durable. However, these valves provide a
surface on which blood clots can form easily. As a result, anyone who has been implanted with a
mechanical valve needs to be on lifelong blood-thinning medication, such as warfarin, to prevent the
development of blood clots that can cause heart attack or stroke. These valves should be avoided in
women of child-bearing age, as warfarin is not for use in pregnancy, and those with a high risk of
falls or bleeding.

Polymers
Polymers on the other hands are applicable in the production of
pacemakers and totally artificial hearts. There are a large number
of polymeric materials that have been used as implants or part of
implant systems. Materials used to construct pacemakers must be
pharmacologically inert, nontoxic, sterilizable, and able to
function in the environmental conditions of the body. To ensure
the polymer chemistry is correct, before the polymer material

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reaches the patient’s body, a crucial step in the manufacturing
control process is verifying the chemical information of the
polymer material.
What is a pacemaker?
A pacemaker is an electrically charged medical device. Your
surgeon implants it under your skin to help manage irregular
heartbeats called arrhythmias. Modern pacemakers have two
parts. One part, called the pulse generator, contains the battery
and the electronics that control your heartbeat. The other part is
one or more leads to send electrical signals to your heart. Leads
are small wires that run from the pulse generator to your heart.
Pacemakers generally treat two types of arrhythmias:
tachycardia, a heartbeat that’s too fast
bradycardia, a heartbeat that’s too slow
Some people need a special type of pacemaker called a
biventricular pacemaker, or bivent. You may need a bivent if you
have severe heart failure. A bivent makes the two sides of the
heart beat in sync. This is known as cardiac resynchronization
therapy (CRT). More than 4 million people worldwide have an
implanted pacemaker or other cardiac rhythm management
device, and an additional 700,000 patients receive the devices
each year.

Procedure of experiments
Before a material can be used in the production of any medical
implant it must undergo the following:
1. Laboratory Evaluation: Laboratory tests, some of which are
used in standard specification, can be used to indicate the
suitability of certain materials. It is important that methods
used to evaluate materials in laboratory give results, which
can be correlated with clinical experience.

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 2. Clinical Trials: Although laboratory tests can provide many
important and useful data on materials, the ultimate test is
the controlled clinical trial and verdict of practitioners after a
period of use in general practice. Many materials produce
good results in the laboratory, only to be found lacking when
subjected to clinical use. The majority of manufacturers
carry out extensive clinical trials of new materials, normally
in cooperation with a university or hospital department, prior
to releasing a product for use by general practitioners.

Future scope
Future efforts should focus on perfecting composite materials to take full advantage of the
optimal combination of both synthetic and natural biomaterials to improve the overall
performance of implantable materials. This approach will exploit the combined advantages of
both material types. Composite biomaterials have the potential to solve the current dilemma of
having to choose between either synthetics or natural tissues and foregoing the benefits of one or
the other material. Given the diversity of cardiovascular conditions and resulting variable
treatments needed, the wider use of composite biomaterials may the best approach for improving
disease management.
As the field develops, and a wider spectrum of cardivascular diseases are coming into sight, we
must focus and harnass our efforts into further developing biomedical materials that can
withstand all the strains (previously mentioned in the research) that a biomaterial used in the
heart should withstand but at much greater amounts. This can only be achieved through further
research in the fields of materials and cardiovascular health.