[Part 1] Biomaterials

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:

[1]. Reading source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomaterial

[2]. Reading source: http://bioegrad.berkeley.edu/faculty/biomaterials.

[3]. Reading source: http://www.hindawi.com/isrn/ms/2012/983062/

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.