BIOMATERIALS,

ARTIFICIAL ORGANS &

REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
P. NYAMBI
 INTRODUCTION TO BIOMATERIALS

• A Biomaterial is a material intented to interface with biological

systems to evaluate, treat, augment or replace any tissue, organ or
function of the body; or simply a material that is able to interact
and be used in biological systems.
• Biomaterials Science is the physical and biological study of
biomaterials and their interaction with the biological environment.
• Biomaterials Science, which has a history of about 70 years,
encompasses elements of medicine, biology, chemistry, physics,
and tissue engineering.
 EVOLUTION OF BIOMATERIAL SCIENCE

• 1st generation (since 1950s)

Goal: bioinertness
• 2nd generation (since 1980s)
Goal: bioactivity
• 3rd generation (since 2000s)
Goal: regenerate functional tissue
 Currently, researchers are already working on possibilites of
regenerating an entire body organ like heart, liver etc
EARLY BIOMATERIALS :
• Gold: malleable, inert metal (does not oxidize); used in dentistry
by chinese and romans (dates 2000 years)
• Iron, brass: high strength metals; re-join fractured femur (1775)
• Glass: hard ceramic; used to replace eye (purely cosmetic)
• Wood: natural composite; high strength to weight; used for limb
prostheses and artificial teeth
• Bone: natural composite; uses: needles, decorative piercing
 CLASSIFICATION OF BIOMATERIALS

• Biomaterials can be classified based on the type of materials

they are made of or based on their compatibility nature.
• In general, biocompatibility is concerned with the acceptance
of an artificial implant by the surrounding tissues and by the
body as a whole.
 CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
BIOCOMPATIBILITY
BIOINERT BIOMATERIALS
• This is a material that once placed in the human body, it has
minimal interaction with it’s surrounding tissue.
• Examples include stainless steel, titanium, alumina, partially
stabilized zirconia, and ultra high molecular weight polyethylene.
• Generally, a fibrous capsule might form around bioinert implants
hence its biofunctionality relies on tissue integration through the
implant.
BIOACTIVE BIOMATERIAL
• This is a material which, upon being placed within the human body,
interacts with the surrounding bone and in some cases, even soft
tissue.
• An ion exchange reaction between the bioactive implant and
surrounding body fluids results in the formation of a biologically
active carbonate apatite (CHAp) layer on the implant that is
chemically and crystallographically equivalent to the mineral phase in
bone.
• Prime examples of these materials are synthetic hydroxyapatite
[Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2], glass ceramic and bioglass.
BIORESORBABLE BIOMATERIAL
• Bioresorbable biomaterial refers to a material that upon
placement within the human body starts to dissolve (resorbed)
and slowly replaced by advancing tissue (such as bone).
• Common examples of bioresorbable materials are tricalcium
phosphate [Ca3(PO4)2] and polylactic–polyglycolic acid
copolymers. Calcium oxide, calcium carbonate and gypsum are
other common materials that have been utilized during the last
three decades
 CLASSIFICATION BASED ON TYPE OF
MATERIAL
• Based on the type or source of the material, Biomaterials can
generally be classified as either Natural or Synthetic
biomaterials.
• Synthetic biomaterials are materials that are synthesized in the
laboratories through various synthesizing techniques.
• Natural polymers, or polymers, derived from living creatures, are
of great interest in the biomaterials field.
• Three examples of natural polymers that have been previously
studied for use as biomaterials are: collagen, chitosan, and
alginate.
• It is not uncommon to have biomaterials that are made
from a combination of natural and synthetic materials.
• Under the ‘type/source of material’, biomaterials can
further be classified as Polymeric biomaterials,
Bioceramics, Metallic biomaterials, Biocomposite and
Biologically based (derived) biomaterials.
• These classes are used singly and in combination to form
most of the implantable biomedical devices available today.
POLYMERIC BIOMATERIALS
• These biomaterials can be made from either natural or synthetic polymers.
• Polymers have assumed an important role in medical applications and a
large number of polymeric materials have been used as implants or part of
implant systems.
• These include acrylics, polyamides, polyesters, polyethylene, polysiloxanes,
polyurethane, and a number of reprocessed biological materials.
• The unique properties of polymeric biomaterials include: flexibility;
resistance to biochemical attack; good biocompatibility; light weight;
available in a wide variety of compositions with adequate physical and
mechanical properties; and they can be easily manufactured into products
with the desired shape.
Due to their unique properties, polymeric biomaterials have
the following advantages and disadvantages

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• Easy to make complicated items • Leachable compounds
• Tailorable physical & mechanical • Absorb water & proteins
properties • Surface contamination
• Surface modification • Wear & breakdown
• Immobilize cell • Biodegradation
• Biodegradable
• Difficult to sterilize
 Some of the applications of polymeric
biomaterials in biomedical field include:
• Tissue engineering;
• Implantation of medical devices and artificial organs due to its
inert nature;
• Prostheses;
• Dentistry;
• Bone repair;
• Drug delivery and targeting into sites of inflammation or tumors;
• Plastic tubing for intra-venous infusion;
• Bags for the transport of blood plasma;
• Catheter
 SOME CLASSES OF POLYMERIC
BIOMATERIALS
1. POLYTETRAFLUOROETHYLENE (PTFE)
• PTFE is a fluorocarbon–based polymer. Commercially, the material is best known as
teflon. It is made by free-radical polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene and has a
carbon backbone chain, where each carbon has two fluorine atoms attached to it.
• The properties of PTFE are: hydrophobic (water hating), biologically inert, non-
biodegradable, has low friction characteristics, excellent "slipperiness”, relatively
lower wear resistance, highly crystalline (94%), very high density (2.2 kg.m-3), low
modulus of elasticity (0.5MPa), and low tensile strength (14MPa).
• PTFE has been used in the fabrication of arterial grafts (artificial vascular graft);
catheters; sutures; and it is also used in reconstructive and cosmetic facial surgery.
• PTFE has relatively low wear resistance. Under compression or in solutions where
rubbing or abrasion can occur, it can produce wear particles. These can result in a
chronic inflammatory reaction, an undesirable outcome.
2. POLYETHYLENE (PE)
• It is chemically the simplest of all polymers and as a homochain
polymer.
• It is essentially: stable and suitable for long-time implantation
under many circumstances; relatively inexpensive; and has
good general mechanical properties.
• Due to this, PE has become a versatile biomedical polymer with
applications ranging from catheters to joint-replacement.
3. POLYPROPYLENE (PP)
• Olypropylene is widely used in medical devices ranging from
sutures to finger joints and oxygenerators.
4. POLY (METHYL METHACRYLATE) (PMMA)
• It is a hard brittle polymer that appears to be unsuitable for most clinical
applications, but it does have several important characteristics like:
i. It can be prepared under ambient conditions so that it can be
manipulated in the operating theater or dental clinic, explaining its
use in dentures and bone cement.
ii. The relative success of many joint prostheses is dependent on the
performance of the PMMA cement, which is prepared intra-operatively
by mixing powdered polymer with monomeric methylmethacrylate,
which forms a dough that can be placed in the bone, where it then
sets.
• The disadvantages of PMMA are :
i. The exotherm of polymerization
ii. Thetoxicityofthevolatile methylmethacrylate
iii. The poor fracture toughness
• But despite these disadvantages, no better material has been
developed to date.

The other two classes of polymeric biomaterials are:

5. POLYESTERS
6. POLYURATHANES