ABSTRACT
The ceramics used for repair and reconstruction of diseased or damaged parts of the muscular-skeletal system are termed as bioceramics (Hench 1991). The bioceramics can be classified into bioinert, resorbable, and bioactive ceramic materials. They can be used in dense, porous, granules, particles, and coatings, and also used as the component for composites. The materials based on calcium phosphate (Ca-P), such as hydroxyapatite [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, HAp], β-tricalcium phosphate [β-Ca3(PO4)2, β-TCP], octacalcium phosphate [Ca8H2(PO4)6·5H2O, OCP], and calcium phosphate cement (CPC) are widely used in biomedical fields due to their excellent biocompatibility, osteoconductive properties, and similarity to the inorganic component of human beings (Lin et al. 2012). In recent decades, another kind of bioceramics, materials based on calcium silicate (Ca-Si), such as bioglass, glass-ceramics, and calcium silicate ceramics, are developed due to their bioactivity and biodegradability. The bioceramics can be also used as a drug or gene delivery system.
