ABSTRACT
Biomaterials improve the quality of life for an ever-increasing number of patients each year. The range of applications includes joint and limb replacements, artificial arterie, skin, contact lenses, and dentures, etc. The implementation of biomaterials may be for medical reasons such as the replacement of diseased tissues required to extend life expectancies. Other reasons may include purely esthetic ones including breast implants. This increasing demand arises from an aging population with higher quality of life expectations. The biomaterials community is producing new and improved implant materials and techniques to meet this demand, but also to aid the treatment of younger patients where the necessary properties are even more demanding. A counter force to this technological push is the increasing level of regulation and the threat of litigation. To meet these conflicting needs, it is necessary to have reliable methods of characterization of biomaterial and material/host tissue interactions. Due to increasing demand and advanced technology, new biomaterials are being developed such as: Titanium, Stainless steel, Zirconium and Cobalt chrome, etc. In this chapter, we will discuss biomechanics of orthopedic fixations and biocompatible materials for these fixations.
