Special Issue "Ceramics for Healthcare"

Guest Editor
Prof. Dr. Jérôme Chevalier
INSA Lyon, UMR CNRS 5510, 20 Avenue Albert Einstein, 69621 Villeurbanne, Cedex, France
E-Mail:
Interests: ceramics; organic-inorganic composites; biomaterials; mechanical properties; Brittle fracture and fatigue

Dear Colleagues,

High-tech ceramics have always been associated to medical devices: they are used today for total hip replacement, heart valves, dental implants and restorations, bone fillers and scaffolds for tissue engineering. Ceramic particles and microspheres are also useful for the radiotherapy of cancers. This is the aim of this special issue to review current state of the art and new findings in the field of ceramics for orthopedic, dental, cardiovascular and cancer treatments. In addition to review papers written by leading scientists, manuscripts on new approaches to material design, processing and characterization, including in-vitro and in-vivo studies, on new compositions with improved properties or surface modification are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Jérôme Chevalier
Guest Editor

Submission

All papers should be submitted to materials@mdpi.org. To be published continuously until the deadline and papers will be listed together at the special issue website.

Submitted papers should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. All papers are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed quarterly journal published by Molecular Diversity Preservation International. Review manuscripts: Before writing their manuscripts, potential authors of review articles should forward the title and a short abstract to materials@mdpi.org. We will then provide feedback on the suitability of the topic.

Open Access publication fees are 300 CHF per paper. English correction fees and/or formatting fees (250 CHF) will be added in certain cases (550 CHF per paper for those papers that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections).

• Biomedical ceramics
• Tissue engineering
• Alumina
• Zirconia
• Calcium phosphate
• Bioactive glasses
• Scaffolds
• Composites
• Nano-particles

Feature Papers

Type of Paper: Review
Author: Aldo Boccaccini
Title: Bioactive Glasses for Tissue Engineering and Angiogenesis
Abstract: to be added soon

Type of Paper: Review
Author: Jérôme Chevalier
Title: Advanced Alumina-Zirconia Composites: New Gold Standards for Orthopaedics?
Abstract: Latest trends in load-bearing materials for arthroplastic applications involve the development of highly fracture resistant alumina-zirconia composites, as an alternative choice to alumina and zirconia monolithic ceramics. These composites are designed from both chemical and microstructural viewpoints in order to prevent environmental degradation and fracture events in vivo, whose shadow yet hampers the full exploitation of ceramic materials in the field of arthroplasty. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of the art concerning synthesis, processing, mechanical properties and overall reliability of alumina-zirconia composites and their current and future applications in the biomedical field.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Ceramics for Modern CAD/CAM - Technology in Dentistry
Authors: Christian Ritzberger, E. Apel, W. Höland and V. Rheinberger
Affiliation: Ivoclar Vivadent AG, Bendererstr. 2, LI-9494 Schaan, Liechtenstein
Abstract: In the past fifteen years the CAD/CAM-Technology became more and more common in dentistry. At the beginning, this modern technology was only used lab side in the dental laboratories. But now also the dentist is applying this technique chair side in his clinical office to reduce the time for the medical therapy for a patient.
Today, the patients are increasingly interested in having a high esthetic, metal-free dental restoration. To achieve the needs for the dentist, dental technican and the patient, different biocompatible material were developed. These biomaterials have to be suitable for special and individual clinical applications and to fulfil the technical requirement for the processing by CAD/CAM- Technology.
Three different types of biomaterials were introduced in this development report. These biomaterials are widely used for the dental application, especially as dental inlays, onlays, crowns or bridges.

Regular Papers

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Mapping the Structure, Composition, Properties and Dental Erosion of Enamel Ceramics
Authors: I.M. Low, N. Duraman, A. Alhuthali, and U. Mahmood
Affiliation: Materials Research Group, Dept. of Applied Physics, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA 6845, Australia
Abstract: This paper reviews the structure-property relationship and dental erosion in natural enamel ceramics. The phase composition, microstructure and mechanical properties as characterised by grazing-incidence synchrotron radiation diffraction, atomic-force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Vickers indentation will be described and discussed. The existence of distinct graded changes in crystal disorder, phase abundance, crystallite size and hardness within these enamel ceramics is highlighted. The phenomenon of load-dependent hardness in enamel but load-independent hardness in the dentine is highlighted and discussed. The use of a “bonded-interface” technique to reveal the nature and evolution of deformation-microfracture damage around and beneath Vickers contacts is described. An in-situ monitoring technique of dental erosion in tooth enamel ceramics when immersed in soft-drinks is described. Atomic absorption results suggest that the increasing weight loss in tooth enamel during dental erosion in soft drinks can be attributed to the continuous leaching of Ca²⁺ ions, in addition to phosphorus, oxygen, and hydrogen. The effect of dental erosion on the hardness of enamel will also be discussed.

Type of Paper: Review
Title: The Use of Ceramics as Bone Substitutes in Hip Arthroplasty
Authors: Michael R. Whitehouse ^1,2 and Ashley W. Blom ^1,2
Affiliations: ¹ Department of Academic Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Bristol
² Avon Orthopaedic Centre, Southmead Hospital
Abstract: The number of grafting procedures, including those performed in primary and revision hip arthroplasty, continues to rise around the world. Demand for musculoskeletal donor tissue now outstrips supply. There is no single bone substitute that is ideal for all circumstances. Bone substitutes act as a scaffold and are usually osteoconductive. They are rarely osteoinductive; if they are a molecular bond is formed between the graft and host bone improving fixation and longevity. Bone graft substitutes are very rarely osteogenic. There is a growing body of clinical evidence supporting the use of bone graft substitutes in vivo for complex hip arthroplasty.