Bioceramics - Yesterday, today, tomorrow

Developments and applications of bioceramics are reviewed. Used initially as alternatives to metallic materials in order to increase the biocompatibility of implants, bioceramics have become a diverse class of biomaterials presently including three basic types: bioinert high-strength ceramics; bioactive ceramics which form direct chemical bonds with bone or evert with the soft tissue of a living organism; various bioresorbable ceramics which ala actively included in the metabolic processes of an organism with predictable results. Certain members of the different types of bioceramics are the most bioinert and biocompatible of all known biomaterials. A review of the composition, physicochemical properties, and biological behavior of the principal types of bioceramic materials is given, based on the literature and some of our own data. The materials include, in addition to classical sintered ceramics, bioglass-ceramics and bioglasses which are similar in composition, properties, and applications. Special attention is given to structure as the main physical parameter determining not only the properties of the ceramic materials, but also their reaction with the biomedium. The present status of research and development irt bioceramics is characterized as a first step irt the solution of complex problems at the confluence of materials science, biology, and medicine by the synthesis of "smart materials."