Biomedical Engineering Theory And Practice/Biomaterials/4.1. Introduction

The National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference defined a biomaterial as ‘‘Any substance (other than a drug) or combination of substances,synthetic or natural in origin, which can be used for any period of time, as a whole or as a part of a system which treats, augments, or replaces any tissue, organ, or function of the body’’ (Boretos and Eden, 1984).