Special report: NIST workshop on reference data for the properties of biomaterials

A workshop on Reference Data for Biomaterials was held at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on July 27, 2000. The primary purpose of the workshop was to determine whether needs existed for the establishment of reference data (RD) databases on the properties of biomaterials. Special attention was given to critiqued RD such as those traditionally found in databases that are established within the NIST Standard Reference Data Program. Critiqued data are data that have been critically evaluated for issues dealing with components of uncertainty, experimental design (details, descriptions, and appropriateness), measurement methods (appropriateness), conclusions drawn from the data, and so forth. Among the workshop's 65 registrants were representatives from industry, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and academia. These joined with NIST staff to address reference biomaterial property database needs within five categories: orthopedic, cardiovascular, ophthalmologic, tissue-engineered, and dental biomaterials. A general session on other issues focused specifically on database accesses (portals), contents, and maintenance. While the workshop's intended focus was on critiqued RD, it was suggested that closely related issues be considered as well. In this way, a more comprehensive assessment of opportunities for the cooperation of NIST with the biomaterials community might be developed. As a result, the needs for noncritiqued data and for reference materials (RMs), useful for developing data, also became a part of the focus of the workshop. Hence, this article presents the results from the breakout sessions of the workshop according to two categories: reference data and databases, and reference materials. In the following summary, the workshop is presented in the following order: An introduction to databases, resource presentations, action items identified in breakout sessions, assessment of resources (personnel and monetary) needed to work on action items, and portals for databases. Except for the individual concurrent breakout sessions themselves, all other sessions of the workshop were participated in fully by those in attendance.