Advances in Ceramic Biomaterials

Bioceramics are an important class of biomaterials. Due to their desirable attributes such as biocompatibility and osseointegration, as well as their similarity in structure to bone and teeth, ceramic biomaterials have been successfully used in hard tissue applications. In this book, a team of materials research scientists, engineers, and clinicians bridge the gap between materials science and clinical commercialization providing integrated coverage of bioceramics, their applications and challenges. The book is divided into three parts. The first part is a review of classes of medical-grade ceramic materials, their synthesis and processing as well as methods of property assessment. The second part contains a review of ceramic medical products and devices developed, their evolution, their clinical applications and some of the lessons learned from decades of clinical use. The third part outlines the challenges to improve performance and the directions that novel approaches and advanced technologies are taking, to meet these challenges. With a focus on the dialogue between surgeons, engineers, material scientists, and biologists, this book is a valuable resource for researchers and engineers working toward long-lasting, reliable, customized biomedical ceramic and composites devices.

Part I: An overview of bio-medical grade ceramic materials 1. Materials for Hard Tissue applications: an overview 2. Types of ceramics: material class 3. Assessment of mechanical properties of ceramic materials 4. Biological assessment of bioceramics Part II: Bioceramics on the market: issues and perspectives 5. Ceramics for joint replacement: design and application of commercial bearings 6. Ceramics for dentistry: commercial devices and their clinical analysis 7. Ceramics for bone replacement: commercial products and clinical use 8. Ceramic devices for bone regeneration. Mechanical and clinical issues and new perspectives 9. Clinical issues of ceramic devices used in total hip arthroplasty Part III: Engineering and challenges of new ceramics for medical devices 10. Design of ceramic materials for orthopaedic devices 11. Design and development of dental ceramics: examples of current innovations and future concepts 12. Patient-specific design of tissue engineering scaffolds, based on mathematical modeling 13. Tissue Engineering and biomimetics with bioceramics 14. Advanced processing techniques for customized ceramic medical devices