Biomaterials & Biomechanics

Corrosion and wear are the major factors that affects the service period of an implant when exposed to the aggressive environment as in human body. Development of new materials and coatings to alleviate wear and corrosion are the major focus of biomaterials research to enhance the longevity of mankind. The major focus of this facility is to evaluate and understand the behaviour of widely used implant materials such as titanium and magnesium in simulated body conditions. The corrosion of coated and uncoated substrates are evaluated using ACM Gill potentiostat under controlled environment. A reciprocator wear tester (Ducom) with temperature, pH and environment-controlled equipment is utilized to assess wear rate and friction of materials. The scratch resistance of the thin film coatings is measured using either a static or ramp loaded scratch tester provided with 200 µm dia diamond indenter.

This laboratory has all the basic equipments needed to perform experiments related to medical physics applications. Medical Physics is the application of Physics concepts, theories and principles to medicine or health care.Some of the key areas of research include:

• Radiation Physics

• Growth and characterization of urinary crystals (Invitro and Invivo)

• Ultrasonics

• Biomechanics & Biomaterial characterization

• Synthesis and characterization of magnetic nanoparticle for Hyperthermia application

• Biophotonics

Key challenges in the field of implantology are stress shielding, low fatigue strength, poor bone bonding and formation of biofilim on implants. This laboratory has all the basic equipments needed for the development of materials with tailored mechanical properties. Materials with grain size ranging from micron and to nano are being investigated to have optimum modulus closer to bone and high fatigue and mechanical strength. Two high temperature furnaces with controlled environment is available to facilitate this work. In addition, novel coatings to improve the osseointegration and prevent bacterial formation are developed using simple cost-effective techniques such as Electrophoretic deposition (EPD) and micro arc oxidation (MAO). In addition, this laboratory also involves activities related to replacement and reconstruction of diseased or damaged parts of the musculo-skeletal/dental systems by near net shape manufacturing of implants using different material and biological characterizations. Further, this lab focuses on development of new generation of ceramic, ceramic- polymeric/metallic composites for different biomedical applications. A substantial portion of this lab is involved in colloidal process of ceramics, bio-ceramics, protein coagulation casting, sol-gel and implant designing (dental and maxillofacial prosthesis) for bio-medical applications.