Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials
Open Access

Biomaterials can be derived either from nature or synthesized in the laboratory utilizing a variety of chemical approaches using metallic components, polymers, ceramics or composite materials. They're repeatedly utilized and/or adapted for a medical application, and therefore include complete or portion of a living structure or biomedical contrivance which performs, augments, or replaces a commonplace function. Such operates may be moderately passive, love being utilized for a heart valve, or perhaps bioactive with a more interactive functionality for example hydroxy-apatite coated hip implants. Biomaterials are additionally utilized any day in dental applications, surgery, and drug delivery. For example, a put together with impregnated pharmaceutical products can be placed into the body, which permits the prolonged roll out of a drug more than an extended period of time. A biomaterial may additionally be an autograft, allograft or xenograft utilized as a transplant material.

Applications

• 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

• Skin repair devices (artificial tissue)

• Cochlear replacements

• Contact lenses

Biomaterials used in Current Medical Practice

Doctors, researchers, and bioengineers use biomaterials for the following broad range of applications:

• Medical implants, including heart valves, stents, and grafts; artificial joints, ligaments, and tendons; hearing loss implants; dental implants; and devices that stimulate nerves.

• Methods to promote healing of human tissues, including sutures, clips, and staples for wound closure, and dissolvable dressings.

• Regenerated human tissues, using a combination of biomaterial supports or scaffolds, cells, and bioactive molecules. Examples include a bone regenerating hydrogel and a lab-grown human bladder.

• Molecular probes and nanoparticles that break through biological barriers and aid in cancer imaging and therapy at the molecular level.

• Biosensors to detect the presence and amount of specific substances and to transmit that data. Examples are blood glucose monitoring devices and brain activity sensors.

• Drug-delivery systems that carry and/or apply drugs to a disease target. Examples include drug-coated vascular stents and implantable chemotherapy wafers for cancer patients.