Inert bioceramics (Al2O3, ZrO2) for medical application

Ceramics is defined as the art and science of making and using solid articles having as essential components inorganic non-metallic materials and which are composed largely of them (Kingery et al., 1976). The inherent brittleness of traditional ceramics has limited their ability to compete with ductile metals and polymers for technical applications. However, over the last 100 years innovative techniques in the fabrication of ceramics have led to their use as high-tech materials. Inert bioceramics, such as Al2O3 and ZrO2, have inherently low levels of reactivity compared with other materials such as polymers and metals as well as surface reactive or resorbable ceramics. In a human body, they are expected to be non-toxic, non-allergenic, and non-carcinogenic for a life-time, which leads to a corresponding range of engineering design philosophies for medical application. Due to their excellent frictional properties technical ceramics are nowadays mainly used in endoprosthetics.