During the weekend, I found an interesting book of
biomaterials. It is quite popular nowadays, while people today try to find
renewable and no-waste materials for essential industries like plastic or other
polymer products. Is it about nano technology? No, of course not, I am just
wondering about some definitions that glanced at my head at that moment. I took
some of the definitions websites related with this
issue.
#1. What is a biomaterial?
To begin with the easiest definition, according to Wikipedia, a
biomaterial is a material that made based on the concept of biological systems.
It could be taken from natural environment or created from laboratorial
processes (included using vary chemicals methods) [1].
Further explanations quoted from scientific websites:
“Biomaterials can be classified as
synthetic or natural materials intended to either augment, direct,
replace, repair or regenerate organs, tissues, or cells. The field of
biomaterials employs the combination of concepts and experimental
techniques used in materials science and engineering, ...” (UC
Berkeley Bioengineering , 2012) [2].
“… in this study, the following definition will be adopted: biomaterial can be defined as any substance (other than a drug) or combination of substances synthetic or natural in origin, which can be used any time, as a
whole or as a part of a system which treats, augments, or replaces any tissue, organ
or function of the body.” (Oladeji O. Ige et al., 2012) [3].
#2. What are the differences between biomaterials and
natural materials?
Before answering that question, it is better to
look at the
definition of natural material itself. According Oladeji O. Ige et al. (2012),
natural
material is a product that made in nature, not made by human. Compare
with the
biomaterial definition, it is clear that a biomaterial can be a natural
material, in spite of not all of natural materials are biomaterials. It
can also be a substance that combines from synthetic and natural
materials.
Regarding from previous explanations, I conclude that those differences focus on the making process and purpose of those
materials. Biomaterial is used in some fields of knowledge, such as material
sciences, biology, physiology, clinical sciences, and others. Usually, it is
used to replace all or some parts of living organism, such as tooth feeling and
artificial implants or help in healing or disease treatment. On the other
hand, natural materials are already present in organisms, like a heart in human
or chlorophyll in green leaves. If one time a human has dysfunctional of
organs like kidney (or having bladder), it can be treated by using catheter which made
from biomaterials.
Endnotes:
Reference:
Oladeji O. Ige, Lasisi E. Umoru, and Sunday Aribo, “Natural Products:
A Minefield of Biomaterials,” ISRN Materials Science, vol. 2012, Article ID
983062, 20 pages, 2012. doi:10.5402/2012/983062.
Notes:
- Please, feel free to add useful
information to explain more clearly or critics about this article. I’m just
trying to make a brief information to link biomaterials to other subjects.
- Next time, I will continue the
explanation with further information about the use of biomaterial in many areas and the
impact of these materials on human health.
- Please, notice me if there is a
misplaced or misused rules of quotations.
- *Curcol: Gosh… It is hard
to paraphrase.
