Epoxy composites in biomedical engineering

The field of biomedical engineering encompasses elements from a wide spectrum of scientific disciplines. Although historians and researchers have cited the origins of biomedical practices such as the use of artificial limbs back to several thousand years, major breakthroughs in the field occurred during the Renaissance era. The invention of synthetic polymers and novel fillers to develop composites with a range of special properties served to accelerate this progress. In this chapter, a detailed review of the research carried out in the field of biomedical engineering using epoxy polymeric composite systems are presented. Epoxies belong to a class of polymers commonly referred to as thermosetting plastics. Once set or shaped, these types of polymers cannot be softened or altered in form by the application of heat. Over the years, pristine epoxy bulk and coatings have been reinforced with several types of nano- and micron-sized fillers to produce composites that possess improved thermal stability, chemical resistance, and wear resistance characteristics. In the field of biomedical engineering, epoxy composites have been widely used to prepare components of devices for medical imaging, bone plate applications, as a novel material for dental applications, as scaffolds for tissue regeneration, and as implants for bridging large osteoperiosteal gaps. Buoyed by the current trend, epoxy composites based on bioresins have recently been formulated by many researchers. Several authors have also studied in detail the cytotoxicity of such composite systems targeting potential use in large scale lifesaving medical applications. A significant portion of their work has been dedicated toward understanding the tribological characteristics of several mating systems under a variety of contact conditions.