MATERIALS SCIENCE

Dr. Sandhya Cole

Dept. of Physics
Acharya Nagarjuna
University
Nagarjuna Nagar – 522 510
Guntur, A.P., India
Biomaterials
 Definition

A synthetic material used to make

devices to replace part of a living
system or to function in intimate
contact with living tissue
 Basic Physical Requirements
(i) Mechanical properties
(Thermal and electrical conductivity, Water
absorption, diffusion and Biostability)
(ii) Design
(iii) Biocompatibility
 Biocompatibility

Acceptance of an artificial implant by the surrounding tissues and by the body as a whole
 Biocompatible Materials
(i) do not irritate the surrounding structures
(ii) do not provoke an abnormal inflammatory
response and
(ii) do not cause cancer
 Other Compatible Characteristics
(i) adequate mechanical properties
(ii) appropriate optical properties
(iii) appropriate density

Starilizability, manufacturability, long-term

storage and appropriate engineering design
An Interdisciplinary field

Bioengineers
Material Scientists
Immunologists
Chemists
Biologists
Surgeons
A Little History on Biomaterials
• Romans, Chinese, and Aztecs used gold in dentistry
over 2000 years ago, Cu not good.
• Ivory & wood teeth
• Aseptic surgery 1860 (Lister)
• Bone plates 1900, joints 1930
• Turn of the century, synthetic plastics came into
use
– WWII, shards of PMMA unintentionally got lodged into
eyes of aviators
– Parachute cloth used for vascular prosthesis
• 1960- Polyethylene and stainless steel being used
for hip implants
 Skin/cartilage
Drug Delivery
Devices
Ocular implants
Polymers

Orthopedic Bone
screws/fixation replacements

Heart
valves
Metals Synthetic BIOMATERIALS Ceramics

Dental Implants Dental Implants

Semiconductor
Materials Biosensors
Implantable
Microelectrodes
Biomaterial Science
 Uses of Biomaterials
• Replace diseased part – dialysis
• Assist in healing – sutures
• Improve function – contacts
• Correct function – spinal rods
• Correct cosmetic – nose, ear
• Aid dx – probe
• Aid tx – catheter
• Replace rotten – amalgam
• Replace dead - skin
 First Generation Implants
• “ad hoc” implants
• specified by physicians using common and borrowed
materials
• most successes were accidental rather than by design

Examples — First Generation Implants

• gold fillings, wooden teeth, PMMA dental prosthesis
• steel, gold, ivory, etc., bone plates
• glass eyes and other body parts
• dacron and parachute cloth vascular implants
 Second generation implants
• engineered implants using common and borrowed materials
• developed through collaborations of physicians and engineers
• built on first generation experiences
• used advances in materials science (from other fields)

Examples — Second generation implants

• titanium alloy dental and orthopaedic implants
• cobalt-chromium-molybdinum orthopaedic implants
• UHMW polyethylene bearing surfaces for total joint replacements
• heart valves and pacemakers
 Third generation implants
• bioengineered implants using bioengineered materials
• few examples on the market
• some modified and new polymeric devices
• many under development

Example - Third generation implants

•tissue engineered implants designed to regrow rather than replace tissues
•Integra LifeSciences artificial skin
•Genzyme cartilage cell procedure
•some resorbable bone repair cements
•genetically engineered “biological” components (Genetics Institute and
Creative Biomolecules BMPs)
Implant materials are of Six Types
1. Metallic Implant materials
2. Ceramic Implant materials
3. Caron Implant materials
4. Polymeric Implant materials
5. Soft tisiue replacement implants
6. Hard tisiue replacement implants
The first metal developed specifically for

human use was “ Shermann vanadium steel”

used for bon fracture plates and screws

Metals used for manufacturing implants are

Fe, Cr, Co, Ni, Ti, Ta, Mo, and W

Biocompatibility of implants metals is of

concern because they can corrode in the hostile

body environment
 Consequence of corrosion include loss of
materials which will weaken the implant
resulting in undesirable effects.
Titanium and Ti based alloys:

The lightness of titanium (4.5gr/cm 3) and

good mechanochemical properties are salient
features for implant appliocations.
It is biocompatible and resistant to corrosion.
Copper is known for its anti- inflammatory,
antibacterial and antifungal properties

These chemical elements can be introduced in bio

active glasses to provide a wide variety uses and to
enhance the physiological properties of implanted
biomaterials
 Ceramics are refractory, polycrystalline
compounds usually inorganic, including
silicates, metallic oxides, carbides and various
refractory hydrides, sulphides, solenoids.
Due to their high specific strength as fibers and their
biocompatibility, they are used as reinforcing
component for composite implant materials &
tensile loading applications such as ligament
replacement
Calcium Phosphate (Hydroxyapatite)

has been used to make artificial bone

This material has been synthesized and used for manufacturing various forms of implant as well as for solid or poros coatings on other implants
Hydroxyapatite acts as a reinforcement in hard times and is responsible for the stiffness of bone, dentin and enamel
Carbons can be made in many allotropic forms: crystalline diamond, graphite, noncrystalline glassy carbon and partially crystalline pyrolytic carbon
Pyrolytic carbon is widely utilized for implant fabrication
DLC technique has the potential to improve performance of medical devices as surgical Knifes, Scissors and articulating surfaces of joint implants
This DLC coating is used to coat razor blades
Due to high specific strength as fibers and their biocompatibility, they are used as reinforcing component for composite implant material
Polymeric materials can be easily fabricated into many forms:
fibers, textiles, films, rods and viscous liquids
Polymers bear a close resemblance to natural polymeric tissue components such as Collagen
In some cases, a bond between synthetic polymers and natural tissue polymers exists

Ex: Bonding of heparin protein on surface of polymers (Silicone, urethane rubber etc.) for the prevention of blood clotting and the use of cyanoacrylyte as tissue adhesives
Adhesive polymers can be used to close wounds or lute orthopedic implants in place
 Most common soft tissue implants is sutures

Sutures are used to close wounds due to injury or surgery

Surgical tapes are intended to offer a means of closing surgical incisions while avoiding pressure necrosis, scar tissue formation, problems of stitch abscises and weakened tissues
Tapes have been used for assembling scraps of donor skin for skin graft, connecting nerve tissues for neural regeneration etc.
Staples made of metals can be used to facilitate closure of large surgical incisions produced in caesarian sections, intestinal surgery and surgery for bone fractures
Metal wires can be used to hold fragments of bones together, also to attach the greater trenchant in hip joint replacements or for long oblique or spiral fracture of long bones
The Steinmann pin is a versatile implant used for internal fixation in case when it is difficult to use as a plate
Screws are most widely used devices for fixation of bone fragments to each other or in conjunction with fracture plates
 Intraocular Lenses
• Implantation often performed on outpatient
basis.
 Vascular Grafts

• Must Be Flexible.
• Designed With
Open Porous
Structure.
• Often Recognized
By Body As Foreign.
Artificial Hip Joints
Substitute Heart Valves
SEM displaying the cross section of a composite disk, which
had been seeded with cultured bone marrow stromal cells.
Advances in
Biomaterials Technology
• Cell matrices for 3-D growth and tissue
reconstruction
• Biosensors, Biomimetic , and smart devices
• Controlled Drug Delivery/ Targeted delivery
• Biohybrid organs and Cell immunoisolation
– New biomaterials - bioactive, biodegradable,
inorganic
– New processing techniques
Biomaterials for Tissue
Replacements
• Bioresorbable vascular
graft

• Biodegradable nerve
guidance channel

• Skin Grafts

• Bone Replacements
 Problems with Heart Valve’s

• Degeneration of Tissue.
• Mechanical Failure.
• Postoperative infection.
• Induction of blood clots.
 Artificial Tissue

• Biodegradable
• Polymer Result of
Condensation of
Lactic Acid and
Glycolyic Acid
 Dental Implants
• Small titanium fixture that serves as the
replacement for the root portion of a missing
natural tooth.
• Implant is placed in the bone of the upper or
lower jaw and allowed to bond with the bone.
• Most dental implants are: pure titanium screw-
shaped cylinders that act as roots for crowns and
bridges, or as supports for dentures.
 Dental Implants

• Capable of bonding to bone, a phenomenon

known as "osseointegration”.
• Bio-inert, there is no reaction in tissue and no
rejection or allergic reactions.
Dental Implants
Knit Grafts
 Overview of femoral replacement

the acetabulum and the proximal

femur have been replaced. The
femoral side is completely metal.
The acetabular side is composed
of the polyethylene bearing
surface
 Bioactive glasses are a group of
surface reactive glass-ceramic biomaterials and include the original bioactive glass
 The biocompatibility of these
glasses has led them to be investigated extensively for use as implant materials in the human body
Bioactive materials like silicate glasses and
glass-ceramics of specified compositions
can directly bond to living bone tissue
depositing an intervening biologically
active apatite layer when embedded in
human body
SBF (Simulated body fluid) solution is useful in predicting in vivo bone bioactivity
The essential requirement for an artificial
material to bond to living bone is formation
of bone like apatite on its surface when
implanted in the living body and that this in
vivo apatite formation can be reproduced in
a simulated body with ion concentration
nearly equal to those of human body
plasma. This means that the in vivo bone
bioactivity of a material can be predicted
from the apatite formation on its surface in
SBF.
 Ion Ion concentration
(mM)
Blood plasma SBF

Na+ 142.0 142.0

K+ 5.0 5.0
Mg2+ 1.5 1.5
Ca2+ 2.5 2.5
Cl- 103.0 147.8
HCO3- 27.0 4.2
HPO42- 1.0 1.0

SO42- 0.5 0.5

7.2-7.4 7.40
pH