Composites

Biomedical composites are designed materials taking advantage of the tailoring of their constituting components. For certain targeted biomedical applications, they provide improved properties that a typical metal, polymer or ceramic material alone cannot provide. This unmatchable advantage makes this class of biomaterials desirable for many biomedical applications ranging from orthopedics, dentistry, drug delivery to the frontiers such as cancer theragnostics. This chapter provides a brief review of several important aspects of biomedical composites including classifications of types of composites, matrix and reinforcement materials, interfaces and their influence on the properties, tensile and compressive mechanical properties, and examples of medical applications for composites.