SHOOL OF MEDICINE

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY
Biomedical Engineering Unit

BME 304 - BIOMATERIALS

BBME – Third Year
Prepared by: Eng. Pinda. O
Lecture Two  MSc in Mechanical Engineering
 MSc in Biomedical Engineering
Salient Properties of Biomaterials
Mechanical Properties
 Strength Biological Properties
 Elastic modulus  Nontoxicity
 Fracture roughness  Cytotoxicity
Biological  Hardness  Osseointegration
 Resistant to wear  Non-combustible

Biomaterial
Mechanical &corrosion
BIOMATERIALS
Physical
Physical Properties Chemical Properties
 Microstructure  Chemical structure
Chemical  Texture  Functional groups
 Density  Hydrophilic/hydrophobic
 Porosity  Degradation
 Charge
 Impact on human tissues pH
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Salient Properties of Biomaterials
A. Biological Properties
Refers to the properties which favor
Biological interaction of biomaterials to tissue /

Biomaterial
organs otherwise material will be rejected
Mechanical
through different reactions.
Physical
 Biocompatibility  Biodegradable
Chemical  Bio-inert  Bioresorbability
 Toxicity  Osteoconductivity
 Bioactivity  Osteoinductivity
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Definitions of terms
 Biocompatibility: Generally refers to the response of biological
organism the presence of biomaterial, not vice versa (Rejection)
→ The ability of a material to perform its desired function with an
appropriate host response in a specific application (D.F. Williams, the
Williams dictionary of biomaterial, 1999)

Appropriate host response → Biomaterial should be;

 Non - Blood clotting,  Non - Thrombogenic
 Non - Bacterial colonization  Non- Toxigenic
 Non – Carcinogenic
 Non - Abnormal heating
 Non- immunogenic
 Non - Inflammatory
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 Bio-inert
The ability of biomaterial to remain unchanged by a biological
organism and to not elicit biological activity

 Bioactive
The ability of biomaterial to elicit or modulate a favorable response
(activity) from any party of biological organism such as interaction,
adhesion etc
 Biodegradability
The ability of biomaterial to be broken down or decomposed by
biological organism

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 Bioresorbability
The ability of biomaterial to be gradually resorbed or dissolved by
cellular and/or metabolic process

 Osteoconductivity
The ability of biomaterial to passively allow the growth of pre-
existing bone tissue onto its surface and/or into pores

 Osteoinductivity
The ability of biomaterial to stimulate new bone formation
(osteogenesis). Often evaluated by implantation in an ectopic site,
such as muscles
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B. Mechanical Properties
Biomaterials are subjected to several force when they are in
actual application.
→ So their mechanical properties should withstand the effect
of the applied forces (stress, strain, shear)
→ Mechanical properties of materials depend on
microstructure and can be modified through processing
techniques which cause rearranging of microstructure or
combining more than one materials together (Composite)
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Mechanical properties mostly refers to;
Tensile strength, Compression strength, yield strength, elastic
modulus, corrosion, wear, creep, and hardness etc.
The strength of material can be analyzed by stress- strain curve.

A: Limit of proportionality, elastic limit

B: Yield point (Upper yield point)
C: Lower yield point
D: Ultimate stress
E: Fracture stress
𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠(𝜎)
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝐸 = 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 (𝜀)

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Definitions of terms
 Elasticity
Is the property of the material which enables the material to
recover to its original form after the external force is removed.

 Plasticity
Material undergo permanent deformation without fracture even
after the external force is removed
 Creep strength
Ability of materials withstand slowly deformation over long period
under (high) stress.
 Young’s modulus of elasticity (E)
By Hooke's law, within the proportional limit, stress = E × strain.
𝜎 𝐹𝐿
𝐸 = = 𝑜 (Pa)
𝜀 𝐴𝑜 𝑒
Where;
E → Young’s modulus of elasticity
F → Applied force
𝐿𝑜 → Original length
𝐴𝑜 → Original area
e → Elongation

 Hooke’s Law, states that;

Within the proportional limit (straight line between zero and A),
stress is proportionate to strain.
C. Physical Properties
This refers to size, shape, surface texture (roughness & topography),
porosity and wettability which plays a decisive role in the adhesion,
growth and differentiation of cells.
Adhesion and growth of cells is optimum on materials with moderate
wettability
D. Chemical Properties
This refers to chemical behavior due to material composition and
structure at atomic and molecular levels.
→ Types of atoms, bonding between atoms, crystalline structure.
The properties includes;
Reactivity, electronegativity, biodegradability, absorption,
degradation, corrosion resistance
Applications of Biomaterials
a) Medical implants: Replacement of diseased or damaged part
 Heart valves,  Artificial joints

 Stents and grafts

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 Implants cont…
 Hearing loss implants  Dental implants and

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b) Assist in healing
Promote tissue formation, preserve
volume and shape, and shorten the
time of wound healing

Includes:
 Sutures
 Clips and staples for wound closure
 Dissolvable dressings
 Bone plates and screws
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c) Assist in drugs delivery

Includes:
Catheters
Bags
Syringes
tubes,
infusion pumps
IV Cannula
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d) Assist in Diagnosis and Treatment

Includes:
 Probes,
 Catheters
 Encapsulations
 Drains

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e) Improve and correct f) Correct cosmetic problem
function abnormality
Includes: Includes:

 Cardiac pacemaker  Augmentation

mammoplasty
 Intraocular lens
 Chin Augmentation

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Summary

Applications

Biomaterials

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Biomaterials classes with
properties comparison
and effective area of
applications (Wagner
2020)

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Review on Salient Properties of Biomaterials
Hereunder are properties for any material to qualify as a
biomaterial.
 Biocompatibility: Non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, non-allergenic,
etc.
 Adequate mechanical properties
 Essential physical and chemical properties
 Stable durability for intended period i.e., Hrs to Yrs
 Easy to process with the available techniques
 Sterilizable with current facilities without any difficulty
 Cost-effective and accessible

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Concept of Biocompatibility
When a Biomaterial is placed in the human body different
molecular interactions take place at the material surface

Types of interactions are Thus, the surface texture of

affected by the surface biomaterial governs the
properties of the material such interaction biological reactions
which mainly are;
 Surface chemistry
 Protein adsorption
 Wettability and  Cell adhesion
 Surface roughness  Cell growth and
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Therefore, the interaction depends on the type of biomaterials and
its surface, e.g consider the knee joint bellow;

Noted that;
 Proteins (red) adsorb differently to different materials and are
depicted as elongated in metal and globular on polymer.
 Cell (blue) interact with the material via adsorbed proteins
dictates how the cell will respond (adhere, proliferate,
differentiate, etc.)
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Interaction occurs through four stages;
 Water-surface interaction,  Cell attachment and spreading, and
 Protein adsorption,  Proliferation.

Stages of Biomaterial interaction

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a) Water surface interaction
It is an initial and first stage: Water molecule from human body is
adsorbed onto biomaterial surface.
Water can either spread or form droplet on the surface, this is
measured by contact angle (𝜃)
.
 Hydrophilic
𝜃 < 90°
 Hydrophobic
𝜃 > 90°
b) Protein adsorption
2𝑛𝑑 stage: Occurs in seconds to minutes, a monolayer of protein is
adsorbs to the most surfaces
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c) Cell – biomaterial interactions
3𝑟𝑑 stage: The cell is attached to the biomaterial surface and is
influenced by the adsorbed protein layer as well as surface
topography.
 The cells primarily see the adsorbed protein layer rather than
the biomaterial surface itself.

d) Cell proliferation
4th stage: Is the process of increase in the number of cells which
occurs as a result of regulated cell growth and cell division.
 The cells increase exponentially resulting on rapid tissue growth
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 It is influenced by both microscale roughness and wettability

The process is balanced by cell division and cell differentiation or

cell death, which maintains an appropriate number of cells in the
body.

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 Assessment of Biocompatibility of Biomaterials
Biocompatibility of biomaterials can be assessed and tested by
the following criteria
 Cytotoxicity (Tissue culture)
 Genotoxicity
 Hemocompatibility
 Mutagenicity,
 Carcinogenicity and
 Immunogenicity
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 Toxicity: Refers to ability of biomaterial to damage a biological
system by chemical means.
 Cytotoxicity: Refers to damage to individual cells, for example in
cell cultures
 Immunogenicity: Referred to the ability of a substance to provoke
an immune response or the degree to which it provokes a
response
 Genotoxicity: Describes an alteration of the base pair sequence of
the genome DNA → Cells possess numerous mechanisms to repair
genotoxic damages.
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 Carcinogenicity: Is the alterations in the DNA that caused a cell to
grow and divide inappropriately → Alterations of DNA promoted
the generation of malignant tumors.

Testing of Biomaterials
Based on specific requirements to the area of application of
biomaterials different testing techniques have to be carried out to
assess the tissue response and the clinical relevant performance of
newly developed biomaterials.
 Biocompatibility tests  Surface topography test
 Mechanical strength tests
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 ASSIGNMENT
Q1. With the aid of sketch or block diagram/flow chart/process
elaborate at least three tests carried out on biomaterials to
evaluate its salient properties in the following categories;
 Biocompatibility
 Mechanical strength
 Surface topography

Assessment: Presentation 20 minutes, Discussion 10 minutes

Presentation dates: 05th, 09th, 12th and 16st December, 2022

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