When Flintstone Age Dentists Used Flint Drills
One of the early uses of materials in humans was in dentistry. Neandertals and modern humans used toothpicks made of wood or bones. Even before humans started farming 10,000-15,000 years ago, more sophisticated…
Once Tooth Blings Were In Vogue
The Mayans replaced their teeth with false teeth carved out of a ceramic material sourced out of sea shells called nacre or mother of pearls. These replacements with gem-studded teeth were not part…
The Insect That Keeps Giving
Materials derived from insects and plants were frequently used in healthcare. The honeybee is an insect that has been of great importance to human society since ancient times across various cultures. Anytime you take a…
The Map All Biomaterialists Should Understand
We know various material types (e.g., metals, ceramics, polymers) can be used as raw materials to develop an implant or device. We also know composites comprise of more materials. The…
The Prozyr Femoral Ball Recall
In 2001, in European and American regulatory agencies recalled millions of zirconia ball heads sold under the commercial name Prozyr by Saint Gobain Ceramiques Desmarquest. These heads are one of the…
The W and H of Total Hip Replacement
The hip joints bear our entire body’s weight as well as forces exerted by hip and leg muscles. Except for our shoulder joint, it has the widest range of flexibility…
The Sulzer Recall
In 2000, Sulzer Orthopedics noticed higher than normal revision surgeries on their InterOpAcetabular Shell. The shell was held to the pelvis with screws, yet these sockets started to loosen. Patients…
How to regenerate bone: Molly Stevens at TEDGlobal 2013
Molly Stevens would like to introduce you to the first blue tooth. No literally, a blue tooth made out of shell. In the days of the ancient Mayans, when a…
No, this isn’t moldy beer. It’s a smart biomaterial you might eventually wear
What might our clothes look like in 50 years? When textile designer Suzanne Lee was researching her book, Fashioning the Future, she found the most interesting answers to that question when she…
11 biomaterials that can heal the human body. Including, yes, biting ants
Biomaterials are substances — synthetic or natural — that can be used to improve health, minimize suffering and improve or correct the way the body works. A suture? That’s…
