Introduction to Biomaterials: Basic Theory with Engineering Applications

Citation

Agrawal, C. M., Ong, J. L., Appleford, M. R., & Mani, G. (2025). Introduction to Biomaterials: Basic Theory with Engineering Applications (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Chapter Summary

The second edition has seventeen chapters in about 500 pages, followed by an index. The first eight chapters deal with the materials and how they are made and measured; the next five with the biology of proteins, cells and the host response; the last four with applications and processes that connect the two.

Chapters 1–2: Introduction; Basic Properties of Materials

Chapter 1 gives a brief history of biomaterials and the long-standing emphasis on keeping implants viable for their intended time. It explains the types of chemical bond (ionic, metallic, covalent) and how they lead to the properties of metals, polymers, ceramics and composites, and closes with the impact and future of biomaterials. Chapter 2 is listed with mechanical, electrochemical and surface properties as its themes.

Chapter 3: Metals: Structure and Properties

Covers the metals used in medical devices: commercially pure titanium, titanium alloys, stainless steel, cobalt-chromium alloys, magnesium alloys, nitinol and tantalum. Phase diagrams are included so that students can see how temperature determines phase and structure.

Chapter 4: Polymers

Starts from polymer chemistry (addition and condensation polymerization, averages of molecular weight, linear, branched and cross-linked structures, amorphous and crystalline states) and then surveys polymers used in medicine, including polyethylene, polymethylmethacrylate, silicones, hydrogels, polyurethanes and nanopolymers, both degradable and non-degradable.

Chapters 5–6: Ceramics; Natural Biomaterials

Chapter 5 defines and classifies ceramics and treats alumina, silicate and bioactive glasses, zirconia, calcium phosphates, carbon and nano-sized ceramics, including biodegradable and surface-reactive types. Chapter 6 covers natural polymers, grouped as protein-based (collagen, elastin, silk) or polysaccharide-based (chitosan, cellulose, alginate, hyaluronan, chondroitin sulfate), plus coral.

Chapters 7–8: Surface Modification; Characterization of Biomaterials

Chapter 7 presents techniques for modifying device surfaces (abrasive blasting, plasma glow discharge, thermal spraying, physical and chemical vapor deposition, grafting, self-assembled monolayers, layer-by-layer assembly), with the principles, advantages and limitations of each. Chapter 8 describes characterization methods for surface and bulk properties, including contact angle, infrared spectroscopy, XPS, Auger spectroscopy, SIMS, profilometry, AFM, SEM, TEM, X-ray diffraction and chromatographic methods, with their working principles and limits.

Chapters 9–11: Biological Systems; Protein Chemistry and Interactions; Cell-Biomaterial Interactions

Chapter 9 introduces the cellular environment: the plasma membrane, cytoskeleton, cell junctions and signalling pathways, together with common biological testing techniques. Chapter 10, which the publisher lists among the new chapters, covers protein structure and properties, protein monolayers, the forces involved in protein interactions, adsorption onto biomaterial surfaces and methods for analysing adsorbed proteins. Chapter 11 turns to the extracellular space, the proteins and pathways cells use to interact with non-cellular substrates, adhesion mechanisms and the role of the material environment.

Chapters 12–13: Host Responses to Biomaterials; Biocompatibility Testing

Chapter 12 treats thrombus formation on material surfaces (platelets, contact activation, coagulation pathways), the complement system and its pathways, acute and chronic inflammation, foreign body reaction and fibrous encapsulation. Chapter 13 lists the biocompatibility tests: cytotoxicity, sensitization, irritation, acute to chronic systemic toxicity, pyrogenicity, genotoxicity, implantation, hemocompatibility, carcinogenicity, and reproductive and developmental toxicity.

Chapters 14–15: Tissue Engineering; Drug Delivery Systems

Chapter 14 covers the fundamentals of tissue engineering and relevant cell types, scaffold properties, fabrication of polymeric, natural-polymer and ceramic scaffolds, and ways of assessing scaffold architecture, cells and new tissue. Chapter 15 covers diffusion-controlled, water-penetration-controlled, chemically controlled, responsive and particulate drug delivery systems.

Chapters 16–17: Sterilization of Biomedical Implants; Clinical Applications

Chapter 16 explains why sterilization matters and reviews methods from steam, ethylene oxide, gamma radiation and dry heat to UV, electron beam, gas plasma and chlorine dioxide, along with the principles for choosing among them. Chapter 17 presents biomaterials in cardiovascular assist devices and stents, dental restorations and implants, intrauterine devices, neural prostheses, ophthalmology, orthopedic implants, renal dialysis membranes, skin products and vocal fold injections, with commercial examples and the rationale for each material choice.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–8: Materials and their preparation

• Bonding and material classes: ionic, metallic and covalent bonds underlie the properties of metals, polymers, ceramics and composites.
• Phase diagrams for medical metals: used to link temperature to phase and structure.
• Natural versus synthetic polymers: protein-based and polysaccharide-based materials alongside synthetic polymers.
• Surface modification and characterization: methods that change a surface, and instruments that measure it.

Chapters 9–13: Biology and host response

• Protein adsorption: how proteins bind to material surfaces and are analysed.
• Cell adhesion: the extracellular environment and the mechanisms by which cells attach to materials.
• Coagulation, complement and inflammation: the host reactions that follow implantation.
• Biocompatibility tests: the families of tests named in Chapter 13.

Chapters 14–17: Applications and processes

• Tissue engineering scaffolds: fabrication routes and assessment.
• Drug release mechanisms: diffusion-, water-penetration- and chemically controlled systems, and responsive and particulate systems.
• Sterilization methods: the choice of method for an implant.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Compact design. Seventeen chapters in about 500 pages make this much shorter than the large multi-author references in the field; the publisher calls it a "succinct" textbook, and the chapters are written by one team of four authors rather than dozens of contributors.
• A clear path from materials to biology to practice. The chapter order moves from bonding and the material classes, through surfaces and characterization, to proteins, cells and host response, and then to tissue engineering, drug delivery, sterilization and clinical devices.
• New biology chapters in the second edition. The publisher highlights new chapters on protein chemistry and interactions, immunology and tissue response, and biocompatibility, which address the interface where many biomaterials courses become thin.
• Learning aids. The publisher lists learning goals, chapter summaries, practical examples, suggested further reading and problems, plus boxed historical asides, and mentions free and instructor-restricted online resources.

Limitations

• Applications are compressed. All clinical applications share Chapter 17, about 25 pages for eleven listed areas, so each device receives a short treatment.
• No chapter on regulation or device design. The contents list has no chapter on regulatory approval, quality systems or the design process for devices; sterilization is the only process chapter at that end of the book.
• Very recent edition. Published in late 2025, it has little track record, and no independent review of it was found. The first edition appeared in 2013.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is the concise, course-shaped option on the biomaterials list. Wagner and colleagues' Biomaterials Science is a roughly 1,600-page multi-author reference that covers more devices, more topics and the regulatory life cycle; it suits looking things up and graduate-level depth. Chen and Thouas's Biomaterials: A Basic Introduction is written for students without a strong background in either materials science or biology, and Temenoff and Mikos's Biomaterials: The Intersection of Biology and Materials Science builds materials and biology side by side as an undergraduate text.

Agrawal and colleagues sit between these: more engineering-focused than a gentle first introduction, but far shorter than the large reference. Black's Biological Performance of Materials is the focused monograph to read afterwards when biocompatibility and the host response are the main interest.

How to Use This Book

The book works best for students who already have introductory chemistry, biology and materials science, or a first engineering course that covers basic material properties. For a one-semester course, Chapters 1 to 8 give the materials background and can be read in order; Chapters 9 to 13 form the biological core and are best read as a sequence, since each builds on the earlier ones; Chapters 14 to 17 can be selected according to what the course emphasises.

Students from a biology background may skim the bonding discussion in Chapter 1 and the metals and ceramics chapters, and concentrate on Chapters 7, 8 and 12 to 17. Students from an engineering background should spend longer on Chapters 9 to 13. Use the learning goals at the start of each chapter, the summaries at the end and the problems to check understanding, and consult the publisher's resources page for additional material.