ABSTRACT
One engages in testing of biomaterials with a simple common objective: ensuring the best possible clinical outcome when the biomaterial is finally used in an in vivo situation. A number of more advanced techniques are covered in this chapter. Since molecular weight plays such a critical role in polymeric materials’ performance, rheological techniques and instrumentations capable of direct measurement of polymer’s molecular weight and molecular weight distribution are discussed. Also, since molecular relaxations frequently govern engineering properties of biological responses, both the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and dielectric spectroscopy are presented. In this regard, the widely used thermal analysis technique, primarily that of the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), provides a wealth of fundamental information on the polymer system at hand. In many cases the reliability of devices often depends on fracture and failure phenomenon. A thorough and vigorous discussion on fracture mechanics, fatigue phenomenon and reliability prediction provides some basic tools that can be applied in this area. Finally, a brief discussion on the shelf life aspect of product performance is given.
