The application can be categorized into followings: Hard Tissue Applications Soft Tissue Applications Most of living tissues i.e. bone, collagen, cartilage & skin are natural composites! The primary motive of varying the type & distribution of reinforcing phase of the composites is to obtain: Suitable mechanical & biological properties Optimizing the structure & performance of biomedical devices Improvement of the device with surrounding tissues Composite materials offer greater potential of structural biocompatibility than homogenous monolithic material Composites Application in Biomedical Engineering

Advantages of Biocomposites: Polymer composites offer low modulus but high strength, suitable for some orthopedic application Metal composites offers: Absence of corrosion Absence of release of allergenic metal ions i.e. nickel or chromium High fracture toughness High resistance against fatigue failure For dentistry, composites offer better aesthetic characteristic & more economical than metal

Hard Tissue Applications Bone Fracture Repair Can be as simple as bandage for bone fracture repair Bandage material is actually a composite The casting material for bandage include woven cotton fabrics & plaster of Paris Bone Plates Used for rigid internal fixation of bone Common material for composites- carbon fiber fabric & epoxy matrix, carbon/polyetheretherketone (PEEK) material system Early composite bone plate are non resorbable made from carbon fiber/epoxy & glass fiber/epoxy Fully resorbable bone plate has limitation where it has low strength and low modulus Further work are being done to create bone plate that is synchronized in term of resorption of plate & healing rate of bone

Bone plates and pins molded with Carbon Fiber Reinforced PEEK From : dfx/news/archive/ /stories/ _images/601df- 402b.jpg Plaster of Paris Bandage From : ntl/timg_GC _CA / Plaster_of_Paris_Bandage.jpg

Intramedullary Nail Used to fix long bone fractures i.e. fracture of femoral neck It is inserted into the intramedullary cavity of the bone & fixed in position using screws, rods & pins The most successful application of bioresorbable implant Example-glass fiber/PEEK Total Hip Replacement (THR) & Total Knee Replacement (TKR) Example- reinforced UHMWPE with carbon fiber or UHMWPE itself Dental Applications Dental post is used to reinforced the remaining tooth structure on which the core and crown are built Example-short glass fiber reinforced polyester & carbon fiber reinforced epoxy composites Dental implant-artificial tooth replacing teeth permanently Example-Carbon fiber/carbon

Carbon fiber PEEKTranslaminar pins, intermedullary nails/screws, and osteosynthesis plates/screws From: gif Intramedullary nail From: r.com/web/images/prod ucts/trauma/itst01.jpg

Soft Tissue Applications Bulk Space Filler Used to restore cosmetic defects up to aesthetically satisfactory condition Also used for articular cartilage replacement due to osteoarthritis Woven carbon fiber fabric is one of the example of bulk space filler Artificial Tendon & Ligament Tendon-strong fibrous band of tissue that extends from a muscle to periosteum of the bone Ligament-a connective tissue band that links bones in the vicinity of every synovial joint Example-reinforcing hydrogel matrix poly (2- hydroxyethlmethacrylate) (PHEMA) with helically wound rigid polyethylenetrerephthalate (PET) fibers

Artificial ligament From: e.com/images/LARS- Achilles-Tendonweb.jpg Artificial leg /pic41.jpg

Other Applications Artificial leg Consist of socket, shaft & foot Ideally has to be lightweight, corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance, aesthetic & easy to be fabricate Thermoset polymer composites reinforced with glass, carbon or Kevlar fibers are common materials Medical Instrumentation Moving table for MRI or CT-carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites Others-surgical clamp, X-ray film cassettes

MRI Table From