This text, from a Series termed Biophysics and Bioengineering, was written by two scientists of international repute.
The short preface sums up the charge currently presented to biomaterials scientists and clinicians: "At one time, it sufficed that a successful device should alleviate pain and restore some function for a few years. Now the requirement is for up to 20 years of functional reliability."
To support this lofty goal, the book, which the authors recommend not only to clinicians, but to biologists, physiologists, and materials scientists for use as a daily reference and to serve as curricular support in advanced courses, is carefully divided into 14 chapters.
Though the title, and, in fact, the thrust of this text, emphasizes the interface, and states that knowledge of the phenomena created at this critical area probably holds the key to an understanding of the reasons for device success or failure, the chapters, in orderly fashion, describe the circumstances associated with each phase of implant use.
Materials are discussed and are considered in three categories: metals, polymers and plastics, and ceramics and carbons. This discussion is followed by a review of host site responses to these materials and underscores surface actions and reactions. Next, the authors review device applications: ophthalmic, otorhinolaryngeal, dental, neural, cardiovascular, and orthopaedic. In so doing, they elaborate on design, and the specific peculiarities that varying organ systems possess which place disparate requirements upon the devices designed for them. Finally, a theory of materialshnterface behavior is presented.
Their view on categorizing biomaterials, not by the material of which they are fabricated but by their surface presentation is an interesting one. They offer four types: a. Nearly inert -smooth surface b. Nearly inert -microporous surface c. Controlled reactive surface d. Resorbable This is a reasonable system of classification, particularly when addressed by two authors who have established themselves as expert in understanding interfacial phenomenology. To support these categories, Hench's table taken from Science is included and serves as a quick reference source to general implant types, their uses and the materials of which they are made.
The second chapter on the surface chemistry of materials is an excellent one to introduce the book's subject matter and to explain surface energy, contact angles, critical surface tension, and the electrokinetic theory in terms readily understandable to the clinician. For the more sophisticated biomaterials scientist, equations are included which serve to elucidate the varying reactions.