Design and evaluation of cermets for biomedical purposes

Elisa Fernandez-Garcia, MsC in Material Science (2011) and International PhD (2014) at UNIOVI, Spain. Since 2010 scientific researcher at the Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology Research Center, CINN-CSIC, Spain. Research interests: designing multifunctional materials taking nature as a model in order to solve relevant biological problems in health.

The incidence of bone-related diseases is increasing due to risk factors derived from the current lifestyle (smoking, obesity), chronic diseases, and the population aging; the replacement of hard tissues by synthetic devices is often the only alternative to deal with the depletion of bone. Mechanical incompatibility between the materials used for manufacturing implantable devices and bone, and also the absence of bioactive interactions between the inert inorganic surfaces and the natural tissues are frequently the main causes related to the implant failure. This research aims to develop new multifunctional materials that present (i) improved bio-mechanical features, and (ii) functionalized surfaces with bioinspired motifs that are able to confer the ability of inducing natural osseointegration, which constitutes a challenge in the clinical of endoprosthesis. Ceramic/metal composites including alumina or zirconia combined with titanium are the materials involved in this book.