文档介绍：Preface
By polymers for biological use we understand biopolymers and living matter.
Biomaterials are man-made or -modified materials which repair, reinforce or
replace damaged functional parts of the (human) body. Hip joints, cardiovascu-
lar tubes or skin adhesives are just a few examples. Such materials are principal-
ly chosen for their mechanical performance (stiffness, strength, fatigue resis-
tance). All mechanical and biological interactions between an implant and the
body occur across the interface, which has to correspond as nearly as possible to
its particular natural surface is plex (three-dimensional) struc-
ture, which has to fulfil many roles: recognition, adhesion (or rejection), trans-
port or growth. We have to admit that at present biomaterials are far removed
from such performance although new strategies in surface engineering have
been adopted in which man tries to learn from nature.
Much of the progress in adapting polymer materials for use in a biological envi-
ronment has been obtained through irradiation techniques. For this reason the
most recent developments in 4 key areas are reviewed in this special
surface engineering necessarily begins with an analysis of the topology and the
position of a functional surface and of the degree of assimilation
obtained by a particular modification. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)
and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectroscopy (ToF-SIMS) play a promi-
nent role in such studies and these are detailed by . Mathieu and his group
from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Generally, the first
step towards procuring desired physico-chemical properties in a biomaterial
substrate is a chemical modification of the surface. As pointed out by B. Gupta
and N. Anjum from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), plasma- and radi-
ation-induced grafting treatments are widely used since they have the particu-
lar advantage that they result in h