Biomimetics in Orthopedic Surgery and Traumatology

Abstract

Biomimetics is considered producing materials in manner that imitate natural tissues and their properties. There is increased need for artificial tissue replacement as autografts that are routinely used have limited resources. There are few different types of tissues in orthopedic surgery and traumatology that frequently need substitution for restoring satisfactory function of locomotory system, thus different kind of biomimetics are developed to fulfill this gap. There are many materials used for this purpose, none of them completely fulfill expected criteria. Basically all biomimetics can be classified as elastic, soft and hard. Elastic are designed for replacing menisci, tendons, ligaments. Soft biomimetics are used as a replacement for skin, muscles and cartilage tissue. Hard biomimetics are replacement for bone tissue. There are some completely synthetic biomimetics but modern approaches tend to combine them with natural materials tending to get best of both worlds. Hybrid materials are expected to combine properties of its ingredients and successfully mimic natural tissues.