1 Introduction

The purpose of all biomaterials is to replace, repair or augment the natural tissue of the human body, which may be necessary as a result of disease, trauma or surgery. It follows from this that a vital aspect of the subject of biomedical materials science is an understanding of the processes that occur in response to placement of the artificial material. This can be viewed as a consideration of what takes place on the biological side of the interface between the prosthetic material and the body.

As has already been made clear, artificial materials may be implanted in a variety of locations of the body: the eye, the cardiovascular system, the hard tissue ( i.e. the bones or teeth), and so on. The response to such implantation is a function of the location within the body and of the chemistry and physical form of the material.

At the most fundamental level, each patient is unique, in terms both of genetic make up and of their general physiology and biochemistry. However, there are sufficient similarities between people to make possible the drawing of broad general conclusions about the progress of the healing process, and how that is modified by the presence of foreign materials and devices. The response may be to react to the release of toxic components. It may be to interact with a benign surface tailored to exhibit good biocompatibility within the specific location of the body, whether bone, soft tissue or blood. It may involve...