BIOMATERIALS IN HUMAN BODY -DOCTORS, RESEARCHERS AND BIOENGINEERS USE BIOMATERIALS FOR THE BROAD RANGE OF APPLICATIONS -BY K. SIVANI

BIOMATERIALS

Biomaterials are like building blocks, and have been used to repair tissues and organs, such as the heart, skin, cornea, and nervous system. Biomaterials are materials meant to be inserted into the body to replace or repair damaged organs or tissues.

BIOMATERIALS ARE USED IN

• Joint replacements.
• Bone plates.
• Intraocular lenses (IOLs) for eye surgery.
• Bone cement.
• Artificial ligaments and tendons.
• Dental implants for tooth fixation.
• Blood vessel prostheses.
• Heart valves.

1. Three common materials for joint replacements are metal-on-metal bearings. metal-on-polyethylene bearings. ceramic bearings.
2. Materials involved in bone-plate design. The biocompatible materials used for bone plates are stainless steel (SS), cobalt base alloys, bio ceramics, titanium alloys, pure titanium, composite materials, and polymers (non-resorbable and bioresorbable).
3. Most IOLs are created from silicone or acrylic. They are then coated with a special material that help to protect your eyes from the harmful ultraviolet rays emitted by the sun. It is important to ensure that you choose the best IOL for your individual needs.
4. Bone cement consists of poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), a stabilizer and an amorphous powder. In bone cement, acrylate-based plastics are also used. Other materials used in bone cement include calcium sulphate, coralline hydroxyapatite, and calcium phosphate cements.
5. Platelet‐rich plasma (PRP) is derived from blood and PRP gel is widely used for tendon/ligament repair.
6. Between these two periods a variety of polymers, including ultrahigh molecular weight polyurethane, polyamide, polymethylmethacrylate resin, polytetrafluoroethylene, and polyurethane, have been used as dental implant.
7. Currently available vascular prostheses, namely polyethylene terephthalate (PET, Dacron) and expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), perform well as large-caliber replacements, but their long-term patency is discouraging in small-caliber applications (<6 mm), such as in coronary, crural or micro vessel surgery.
8. Biomaterials used for different heart valve components include
9. I) cage, housing, or binge – titanium, cobolt based alloys (stelite-21, Haynes-25), pyrolytic carbons (low temperature isotropic carbon).

II)Leaflet, disc or ball – pyrolytic carbons (low temperature isotropic carbon), Silicon rubber, poly acetate, poly olefin

III) Sewing ring – polypropylene, poly tetra fluoro ethylene (tephlon), tere phthalate (Dacron)

IMPORTANT AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH ON BIOMATERIALS

Three fascinating technologies below suggest directions for biomaterials on the horizon:

• Immunomodulation is an adjustment of the immune response to a desired level. Immunomodulating biomaterials may help to tackle widespread chronic diseases such as type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease where the body’s defence destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Researchers recently developed an injectable, synthetic biomaterial that reversed type 1 diabetes in non-obese diabetic mice—an important step in developing a biodegradable platform to help control the effects of the disease.
• Injectable biomaterials are being used increasingly for the delivery of therapeutic agents such as medicine, genetic materials, and proteins. They offer the possibility to treat a variety of conditions by providing targeted delivery while avoiding uptake by the immune system. Research currently underway using both synthetic and naturally derived injectable biomaterials may one day be used to treat bone defects, cancer, and heart attacks.
• Supramolecular biomaterials—complexes of molecules that exceed the limits of what molecules can do on their own—have the potential to both sense and respond, making them ideal materials for treating injury or disease. Researchers are exploring the development of supramolecular biomaterials that can be turned on or off in response to physiological cues or that mimic natural biological signalling.