Biomaterials to laymen may sound like a sort of fuel, but the truth is that, they are the materials engineered to interact with body organs for medical purposes. This could be in the form of a prosthetics, fillings or anything else. These materials can be metals, polymers, ceramics and composites. These are supposed to help the body without affecting other organs.
In short, Biomaterials are substances that are used in the field of medicine and dentistry to mend a living tissue without interfacing with it. These are often used in medical or healthcare world to augment or recover a natural function.
Usage of Biomaterials in Medical Science
• Medical implants like ligaments, and tendons, hearing implants, heart valves dental implants and equipment that tingle nerves.
• They are used to promote tissues healing in humans, such as dissolvable dressings, sutures and staples for wound closure.
• Human tissues regeneration is possible, by using a blend of scaffolds, or biomaterial supports or scaffolds, cells, and bioactive molecules.
• Molecular investigations and nanoparticles break the biological barricades and support cancer imaging and treatment at the molecular level.
• Biosensors are used to sense the existence and number of specific materials and convey that data. For instance, the blood glucose monitoring equipment and brain activity monitoring devices.
• Drug-delivery arrangements that transport drugs to target a specific disease. For instance, vascular stents and implantable chemotherapy wafers covered with drug for cancer patients.
Natural Biomaterials
These are obtained from natural sources including, animals, plants bacteria and other microorganisms. Natural biomaterials are mainly categorized into three categories, animal based, microbial sources and plant based.
Synthetic Biomaterials
These are mainly made in the laboratory, and one of the major examples are polymers obtained from petroleum created synthetically. Synthetic biomaterials are also known as biostable and biodegradable contingent, based on their degradation pace when rooted in an organism.
