Evolution of ceramics with medical applications

Abstract

Bioceramics are those ceramics designed to be implanted into the human body. In the last fifty years these materials experienced an enormous evolution. Initially, the objective was bio-inertness, that is a minimum interaction with the living organism. These bioceramics are nowadays called first generation. The second generation bioceramics started to be widely investigated in the 1980s with the goal of a positive interaction with living tissues. This group collects bioactive and resorbable bioceramics. At the beginning of the 21st Century it is clear that the medical paradigm of tissue substitution must be replaced with tissue regeneration. Bioceramics must be supplemented with cells and biologically active molecules. The investigation in third generation bioceramics has just started. In this article, a description of the main second generation ceramics and new advanced ceramics currently under our investigation aimed to be used as scaffolds and templates in third generation biomaterials is presented. © 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.