Biomedical applications

Abstract

The application of tribology in medicine and biology is a growing and rapidly expanding field. It necessarily builds upon the fundamentals of engineering tribology, and extends well beyond conventional boundaries. Biomedical tribological systems involve an extensive range of synthetic materials and natural tissues, which often operate in complex interactive biological environments. Their performance specifications and lifetimes often exceed that found in many engineering systems and frequently have to extend beyond the lifetime of the patient. Biomedical tribology involves natural human and animal systems and, of increasing importance, the development of replacement (prosthetic) devices to replace diseased tissues and organs.