Biomaterials research field

Very recently, highly regular, highly controlled, dense branching has been developed. The resulting dendrimers often have a spherical shape with special interior and surface properties. The synthesis and properties of dendrimers has been reviewed (see e.g. G.R. Newkome et al. Dendritic Molecules , VCH, 1996). In this series, a chapter deals with the molecular dimensions of dendrimers and with dendrimer-polymer hybrids. One possible development of such materials may be in the fields of biochemistry and biomaterials. The less perfect hyper-branched polymers synthesized from A2B-type monomers offer a real hope for large scale commercialization. A review of the present status of research on hyperbranched polymers is included. 

Science is entering into the nanoscale world, and the organization of microscale or nanoscale biomaterial structures on surfaces has been demonstrated and is a subject of extensive research effort.184,851 Single biomaterial molecules have been imaged on surfaces,186 871 and the individual affinity interactions of biomaterials probed at the molecular level.188,891 While the different scanning microscopy techniques provide useful means to image and manipulate biomaterials on surfaces, the use of the near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM) 9<) in the activation of photoswitchable biomaterials on surfaces should be emphasized specifically. One... 

One of the most exciting fields of research involves the study of composites, materials with two or more components with properties different from those of the components. Composites have revolutionized fields as diverse as sports and recreation and air transportation and military equipment. Another active field of research focuses on biomaterials, synthetic or semisynthetic products that have applications in living systems. Today researchers are developing artificial skin, blood, nerves, and other body components that can be used for the repair of damaged tissues. Nanotechnology is perhaps the most revolutionary of all areas of materials research. The subject deals with components of very small dimensions, comparable to those of atoms and molecules. Smart materials are yet another topic of... 

For nearly four centuries, one of the most active fields of research on biomaterials has been the search for blood substitutes. Not long after the English physician William Harvey (1578-1657) discovered the process by which blood circulates in the body, people began searching for substitutes for natural blood for treatment of those who had been wounded or had lost blood in some other way. At first, those efforts had little scientific basis and centered on certain apparently logical connections. For example, wine was sometimes used to replace human blood because blood and wine have a similar color. Milk was also used as a blood substitute because both milk and blood are naturally occurring bodily fluids. 

Today, much of the research on biomaterials can be classified into three major fields tissue engineering, development of replacement parts, and creation of blood substitutes. Although there is some overlap among these fields, they serve well as organizing themes for recent developments in the science of biomaterials development. 

Scientific research today sometimes produces strange bedfellows, teams of scholars from fields that might seem very far apart and distinct from each other. Research on biomaterials is one area with many such examples. Someone interested in developing an artificial heart, a blood substitute, or a new material that can be used for bone must know a little something about many topics from biology, chemistry, and physics. Even better, such research can be carried out most efficiently when scholars from each of these fields is involved in a research program. One of the best examples of that point is found in the history of research on artificial skin, in which loannis V. Yannas made an important breakthrough. 

Many of the new materials developed by early humans were modeled on substances found in nature. The first alloys, for example, were little more than artificial copies of substances produced when fire, lightning, or some other natural source of energy caused the fusion of naturally occurring materials on the Earth s surface. Over time, however, people learned how to modify these processes to produce new alloys and other materials that were superior to those found in nature. This pattern has dominated materials research since the dawn of time. Many of the best new materials available today were created when scientists discovered how nature makes its composites and found new and better ways to duplicate those processes. One of the most exciting fields of materials research today involves the development of new biomaterials, substances similar to naturally occurring products found in living organisms that can be used in a host of new ways by medical workers. 

Research in this discipline is important because of the potential to accelerate the materials development for sensors by applying what has already been learned in other fields, such as electronics, aerospace, and biomaterials. By combining an understanding of sensor issues with a broad understanding of how polymer problems have been solved in other fields, polymer development for specific sensor applications will advance more rapidly. The logical progression from materials development by trial and error is to tailor new materials systematically for each specific application, based on understanding of material science. 

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