CLIL CLIL CLIL LANGUAGE IMMERSION PROCESS AND PRODUCT MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGIES BIOMATERIALS Biomaterials improve the quality of life for an ever increasing number of people each year. The range of applications is vast and includes such things as joint and limb replacements, artificial arteries and skin, contact lenses, and dentures. While the implementation of some of these materials may be for medical reasons such as the replacement of diseased tissues required to extend life expectancy, other reasons can be purely aesthetic ones including breast implants. This increasing demand arises from an ageing population with higher quality of life expectations. The biomaterials community is producing new and improved implant materials and techniques to meet this demand, but also to aid the treatment of younger patients where the necessary properties are even more demanding. Biomedical materials can be divided roughly into three main types governed by the tissue response. In broad terms, inert materials cause no or minimal tissue response. Active materials encourage bonding to surrounding tissue with, for example, new bone growth being stimulated. Degradable or resorbable materials are incorporated into the surrounding tissue or may even dissolve completely over a period of time. Metals are typically inert, ceramics may be inert, active or resorbable and polymers may be inert or resorbable. The main property required of a biomaterial is that it does not elicit an adverse reaction when used. In general: metallic biomaterials are used for load bearing applications and must have sufficient fatigue strength to endure the rigors of daily activity e.g. walking, chewing, etc. ceramic biomaterials are generally used for their hardness and wear resistance for applications such as articulating surfaces in joints and in teeth as well as bone bonding surfaces in implants. polymeric materials are usually used for their flexibility and stability but have also been used for low friction articulating surfaces. GLOSSARY ageing: che invecchia breast implant: impianto di protesi mammaria to bond: legare to elicit: ottenere to endure: sopportare joint: articolazione limb: arto load bearing application: utilizzi con carico di peso tissue: tessuto resorbable: riassorbibile 98