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Biomaterials: A Basic Introduction cover

Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical Engineering

Biomaterials: A Basic Introduction

Qizhi Chen; George Thouas

An introductory textbook written for students who come to biomaterials without a strong background in either materials science or biology. It builds the necessary basics from both sides, then surveys metals, ceramics, polymers and composites used in medicine, how the body responds to them, and how they are tested and regulated.

Prerequisites: Introductory chemistry and biology at first-year level; no materials science course is required.

Difficulty Level
Intermediate
Academic Level
Undergraduate
biomaterialsmaterials sciencebiocompatibilitymedical implantscell biology

01 / Reading Guide

Reading Guide

Citation

Chen, Q., & Thouas, G. (2015). Biomaterials: A Basic Introduction. CRC Press.

Chapter Summary

The book has about 740 pages in 21 chapters and three parts. According to the preface, it grew out of Qizhi Chen's lecture notes for biomaterials teaching, and its plan is unusual: Part I (Chapters 1–11, about 400 pages) teaches the materials, Part II (Chapters 12–19) teaches the medical science (anatomy, disease, cell biology, histology and the immune response), and Part III (Chapters 20–21) covers evaluation and regulation. Chapters typically open with learning objectives and close with chapter highlights, simple in-class questions, problems and exercises and a bibliography; many add suggested activities, an "Advanced Topic" on current research, and seven chapters include a laboratory practice.

Part I: Biomaterials Science

Chapter 1: Biomaterials Science and Engineering

Sets out the difference between materials science and materials engineering, the levels of structure in materials, the four categories of materials, definitions of biomaterials, biomedical materials and biological materials, and the concept of biocompatibility.

Chapters 2–3: Toxicity and Corrosion; Mechanical Properties of Biomaterials

Chapter 2 covers the elements in the body, the biological roles and toxicities of trace elements, how metallic elements are chosen for medical-grade alloys, the corrosion of metals in the body's environment and how to minimise implant toxicity; its laboratory practice measures corrosion potentials in simulated body fluid. Chapter 3 introduces the mechanical properties that matter for implants, including hardness, elasticity, failure, and the terms clinicians use, and ends with the properties essential for orthopaedic implants.

Chapters 4–5: Metallic Biomaterials in Orthopedic Implants; Metallic Biomaterials: Miscellaneous Others

Chapter 4 traces the development of metallic biomaterials and compares stainless steels, cobalt-based alloys and titanium alloys. Chapter 5 turns to dental materials, nickel-titanium shape-memory alloys, other clinical metals and the newer magnesium alloys.

Chapters 6–7: Bioinert Ceramics; Bioactive and Bioresorbable Ceramics

Chapter 6 covers alumina and zirconia, the two types of joint, dental ceramics, and total joint replacement as an advanced topic, including a short history of hip prostheses. Chapter 7 treats calcium phosphates and hydroxyapatite, bioactive glasses and glass-ceramics, bone-bonding mechanisms and biodegradable ceramics, ending with ceramic scaffolds for bone tissue engineering.

Chapters 8–10: Polymeric Biomaterials: Fundamentals; Bioinert Polymers; Bioresorbable Polymers

Chapter 8 introduces the basic concepts of polymers and an overview of polymeric biomaterials, with an advanced topic on scaffolds for soft-tissue engineering. Chapter 9 surveys the stable polymers used in devices: polyolefins, PET, acrylates, fluorocarbons, silicone and polyurethane. Chapter 10 explains polymer biodegradation and covers degradable polyesters (PGA, PLA, PCL, PHA, poly(polyol sebacate)), polyethylene glycol, polyamides, surface-erodible polymers and biological polymers such as resilin, silk and gluten.

Chapter 11: Composite Biomaterials

Introduces composites, using bone as a natural composite, then dental composites and artificial bone; the laboratory practice is the mechanical testing of animal bone.

Part II: Medical Science

Chapter 12: Medicine and Medical Science

A short bridge chapter that sets medical science against materials science and states the learning goals of Part II.

Chapters 13–15: Human Anatomy and Diseases I: Integumentary, Skeletal, Muscular, Nervous, and Endocrine Systems; II: Cardiovascular System; III: Respiratory, Lymphatic, Digestive, Urinary, and Reproductive Systems

A body-systems tour aimed at the diseases that biomaterials can treat. Chapter 13 ends with the biomaterial challenges of bone tissue engineering; Chapter 14 gives the cardiovascular system its own chapter, covering cardiovascular disease, the pressure–volume loop, current therapies, biomaterial-based alternatives and artificial blood vessels.

Chapter 16: Cells and Biomolecules

Covers cell biochemistry, cell structure, transport across membranes, proliferation, differentiation and stem cells, followed by an advanced topic on cell therapy for heart disease and on strategies against immune rejection.

Chapters 17–18: Histology and Tissue Properties I: Epithelial, Neuronal, and Muscle Tissue; II: Connective Tissues

Describes the main tissue types with attention to their mechanical behaviour: the properties of tissue proteins, connective tissue proper (skin, tendon, ligament), structural proteins, cartilage and bone.

Chapter 19: Immune System and Body Responses to Biomaterials

Brings materials and biology together: the immune system, tissue responses to injury, and the body's response to implants.

Part III: Evaluation and Regulation

Chapters 20–21: Evaluation of Biomaterials; Regulation of Medical Devices

Chapter 20 covers standards, toxicological evaluation, cytotoxicity testing and evaluation in animals, with a case study on a heart patch tested in rats. Chapter 21, the shortest chapter, distinguishes regulations from standards and outlines medical devices, preclinical testing, clinical trials, device development and career opportunities.

Key Concepts

Part I: Materials

  • Biocompatibility: the ability of a material to perform in the body without causing unacceptable harm, the organising idea of the book.
  • Corrosion and toxicity: how metal implants degrade in body fluids and why alloy elements are chosen with their biological effects in mind.
  • Bioinert, bioactive and bioresorbable: the three behaviours of implant materials, applied to both ceramics and polymers.
  • Mechanical matching: choosing implant materials whose hardness, elasticity and resistance to failure suit the tissue they replace.

Part II: Medical science

  • Disease as the design brief: body systems are presented through the diseases for which implants and devices are needed.
  • Cell proliferation and differentiation: the cell processes behind stem-cell and cell-based therapies.
  • Tissue mechanics: the structural proteins and properties of connective tissues that materials try to match.
  • Host response: the immune and tissue reactions that follow implantation.

Part III: Evaluation and regulation

  • Standards and testing: toxicological, cytotoxicity and animal tests used to establish safety.
  • Regulation versus standards: legal requirements for devices, as distinct from technical standards, leading to preclinical testing and clinical trials.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

  • Two audiences served in one book. The preface and publisher both state that the book gives materials students the biology and medicine they lack and gives medical and biology students the materials science they lack. Part II, with its anatomy, disease, cell biology and histology, runs to about 240 pages, so the biological background is taught rather than assumed.
  • Detailed coverage of material classes. Part I gives separate chapters to orthopaedic metals, other metals, inert and bioactive ceramics, and three polymer chapters, naming specific materials (316L stainless steel, Ti-6Al-4V, nickel-titanium, magnesium alloys, hydroxyapatite, bioactive glass, PLA and PGA, polyurethane).
  • Rich teaching apparatus. Learning objectives, highlights, in-class questions, problems, activities, seven laboratory practices and advanced topics allow instructors to use the book for both lectures and labs. Instructor reviews on the publisher's page call it comprehensive, easy to read and logically structured.

Limitations

  • Length and order. At about 740 pages it is long for a basic introduction, and the materials-first order means the biology in Part II arrives only after 400 pages of materials. Students without biology may need to read Chapters 16–19 earlier.
  • Thin on regulation. The regulation chapter is about eight pages, with a broad overview rather than detail on any one jurisdiction.
  • Dated. The book appeared at the end of 2014 and has had no new edition, so advanced topics on tissue engineering, cell therapy and magnesium alloys reflect research of that time.
  • Level stated by the authors. The preface aims the book at second-year students in the natural sciences or engineering, and the publisher at upper-division students in North America; it is not a first-year text.

Where It Fits in the Course

Among the introductory books in this course, Chen and Thouas and Temenoff and Mikos's Biomaterials: The Intersection of Biology and Materials Science both aim to teach the materials and the biology together; Temenoff and Mikos interleave them, while Chen and Thouas separate them into two large parts and give much more space to anatomy and disease. Students can use either as the main text and the other as a second explanation. Agrawal and colleagues' Introduction to Biomaterials is a shorter course text that adds characterisation, surface modification, sterilisation, drug delivery and devices.

The two editions of Biomaterials Science: An Introduction to Materials in Medicine on this list, the 2004 edition edited by Ratner, Hoffman, Schoen and Lemons and the 2020 edition edited by Wagner and colleagues, are large multi-author references; the preface of Chen and Thouas itself names the Ratner volume as the multi-author textbook of the field. Students should consult them for depth on any topic after Chen and Thouas. Jonathan Black's Biological Performance of Materials is a graduate monograph on biocompatibility that extends Chapters 2, 19 and 20.

How to Use This Book

The book suits second-year students in biomedical engineering, materials science or biology, and medical students wanting materials background. The preface pitches it at second-year students of any natural science or engineering discipline; no prior materials science or anatomy is needed, since each is introduced in its part, but first-year science is taken for granted.

A practical plan:

  • Materials students: read Chapter 1, then Part II (Chapters 12–19) early or alongside Part I, since the biology is new; then Chapters 2–11 at the course's pace.
  • Biology and medical students: Chapters 1–3 are essential, followed by Chapters 4, 7, 8 and 10 for the main material classes; Part II can be skimmed as review except for Chapter 19.
  • Everyone: Chapters 19–21 tie the book together, from the body's response to implants to testing and regulation.

Use the chapter highlights for revision and the in-class questions to check understanding. If laboratory facilities exist, the seven laboratory practices, from corrosion measurements to bone testing, connect the theory to experiments. Treat the advanced topics as optional reading and, given the book's date, update them with recent reviews. Supplement Chapter 21 with current guidance from the relevant regulator.