Book description
Biomimetics, in general terms, aims at understanding biological
principles and applying them for the development of man-made tools
and technologies. This approach is particularly important for the
purposeful design of passive as well as functional biomaterials that mimic
physicochemical, mechanical and biological properties of natural
materials, making them suitable, for example, for biomedical devices or
as scaffolds for tissue regeneration.
The book comprehensively covers biomimetic approaches to the development
of biomaterials, including: an overview of naturally occurring
or nature inspired biomaterials; an in-depth treatment of the surface
aspects pivotal for the functionality; synthesis and self-assembly
methods to prepare devices to be used in mineralized tissues such as
bone and teeth; and preparation of biomaterials for the controlled/
sustained release of bioactive agents. The last part reviews the
applications of bioinspired materials and principles of design in regenerative
medicine such as in-situ grown bone or cartilage as well as the
biomimetic techniques for soft tissue engineering.
The comprehensive scope of this book makes it a must-have addition to
the bookshelf of everyone in the fields of Materials
Science/Engineering, Nanotechnologies / Nanosciences, Medical Sciences,
Biochemistry, Polymer Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering.
Jo?o F. Mano (CEng, PhD, DSc) is an Associate Professor at the
Polymer Engineering Department, University of Minho, Portugal, and
principal investigator at the 3B's research group - Biomaterials,
Biodegradables and Biomimetics. He is the former director of the Master
program in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minho. His
current research interests include the development of new materials and
concepts for biomedical applications, especially aimed at being used in
tissue engineering and in drug delivery systems. In particular, he has
been developing biomaterials and surfaces that can react to external
stimuli, or biomimetic and nanotechnology approaches to be used in the
biomedical area. J. F. Mano authored more than 330 papers in
international journals and three patents. He belongs to the editorial
boards of 5 well-established international journals. J. F. Mano awarded
the Stimulus to Excellence by the Portuguese Minister for Science and
Technology in 2005, the Materials Science and Technology Prize,
attributed by the Federation of European Materials Societies in 2007 and
the major BES innovation award in 2010.
