Activities in Bioengineering and Analytics

Activities in bioengineering which need mature analytics include  

Metallic biomaterials (metals such as Ti or its alloys and others) are used for the manufacture of orthopaedic implants due to their excellent biocompatibility with respect to electrical and thermal conductivity and their mechanical properties, e.g., for hard tissue replacement such as total hip and knee joints, for fracture healing aids such as bone plates and screws or dental implants. For example, Co-Cr-Mo alloys are employed for metal-on-metal hip bearings in total joint replacements. Problems with implants occur because of ion release in patients with metal implants. To control this ion release, the ultratrace determination of Co, Cr and Mo in the blood (or serum) and urine of patients with Co-Cr-Mo alloy hip implants is carried out routinely in the author s laboratory. The trace metal determination of Co, Cr and Mo in complex matrices such as urine and blood by ICP-MS is not trivial due to the low concentrations expected in the sub-ngmF1 range, the possible danger of contamination during sample collection, sample preparation and the 

Other recently developed biomaterials will be used for quite different purposes in tissue engineering such as artificial pancreas and liver, artificial skin, nerve regeneration, gene therapy vascular grafts, cornea replacement and others.3 

The fundamentals, applications and progress in tissue engineering are reviewed in the comprehensive handbook by Ikada.4 

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