Biomedical composites

Huang, S. J., Edelman, P. G., and Cameron, J. A., Cross-linkable polyesters for biomedical composites, Polym. Mater. 

The complex dynamic and structural properties reveal the influence of SPEU on the molecular dynamics and structure of PHBV, by forming in-termolecular hydrogen bonds and setting up of energy and steric barriers to PHBV crystallization. In terms of design of new biomedical composites, results presented have a scientific and practical interest to describe their behavior at water-temperature exposure. 

Of these, the reinforcement system in a cmnposite material strongly determines the properties achievable in a composite. It is thus convenioit and common to classify composites according to the characteristics of the reinforcement. These can include the shape, size, orientation, composition, distribution, and manner of incorporation of the reinforcement. For the purposes of a discussion of biomedical composites, this results in two broad groups, namely, fiber-reinforced and particle-reinforced composites. Figure 12.2 shows further divisions within these groups. 

Particulate reinforcement in biomedical composites is used widely for ceramic matrices in dental and bone-analogue applications. The most common such particle form is hydroxyapatite, a natural component of bone where it exists in a composite structure with collagen. Hydroxyapatite particles have very poor mechanical properties and may serve more as a bioactive than reinforcement component. 

Synthetic Biomedical Composites and Their Bioactivity 443 Table 22.2 Bioactive fillers used in tissue engineering applications. 

Biocomposites (the title of Volume 111), are often interpreted as either biomass-based or biomedical materials. The former have a wider meaning than the latter, because they are available for various industrial purposes. A biomass-based composite consists of biomass and/or biomass-derived substance. On the other hand, a biomedical composite is a specified material because it is limited merely to biomedical use. In this use, the constituents are not necessarily biomass-based or biodegradable, but should be biocompatible. In the present volume, as stated earlier, by biocomposites, we mean biomass-based composites. 

Needless to mention, many types of the usual synthetic polymer composites are in use for decades now as matrices for several kinds of biomedical composite materials. Before the authors elaborate the progress made in the last decade with the conventional composites, for example, fiber-reinforced implants, they would... 

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