Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Biomedical materials have been widely used in the treatment of orthopedic trauma, and the biomedical materials used in the clinical treatment should has the good biocompatibility, meet the certain mechanical properties and has the properties of anti-wear, corrosion resistance and anti-aging.
OBJECTIVE: To classify the orthopedic biomedical materials and to multi-level analyze the relevant literatures in the Web of Science database.
METHODS: A computer-based search was performed on the Web of Science database for the literatures on orthopedic biomedical materials from 2002 to 2011, and the key words were “orthopedic, biological materials”. The orthopedic biomedical materials were classified according to the properties, function, source and location in order to analyze the characteristics and indications of various materials.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 3 834 literatures were screened out from the Web of Science database from 2002 to 2011. China has obtained a certain achievements in the field orthopedic biomedical materials research, as the number of the literatures published by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Sichuan University is in the top, and Biomaterials is a classic journal on orthopedic biomedical materials research. Orthopedic biomedical materials can be divided into metal materials, nonmetallic materials, polymeric materials and biological composites according to the nature of the material and each of the material has the respective characteristics in mechanical strength, fatigue resistance, corrosion resistance and biological safety. The tissue engineering presents new challenges to the research of biomaterials, but we can make up the shortage through composite materials development, material modification and surface modification method, and the research of the orthopedic biomedical materials will develop into the composite, hybrid, functional and intelligent biomaterials.