Amazon.com description: Product Description: Bioceramics 17 comprises the papers presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Ceramics in Medicine (ISCM), held during the 8th to 12th December 2004 in New Orleans, Louisiana USA. It covers the most recent advances made in the study of bioceramics, and its applications in medicine; especially in the repair of bone defects. The ever-increasing impact of bioceramics is clearly reflected by this volume: the 261 papers conveniently collected together here, cover major topics in the field of bioceramics today. These include biomimetic apatite coatings, hydroxyapatite and other calcium phosphate ceramics, coatings, composites, inorganic-organic hybrids, zirconia and alumina bioceramics, bioactive glasses and glass ceramics, the evaluation of bioactivity in simulated physiological solutions, cell-ceramic interactions, ceramic-tissue interaction, the stability of bioceramics in the body environment, tissue engineering and scaffold materials, bone cement; drug delivery; wear and fixation of implants, surface modification, pre-clinical and clinical studies, dental and orthopaedic applications and effect of sterilization upon ceramic implants. This book will provide invaluable and up-to-the-minute information for scientists, engineers and surgeons working on the study, development, manufacture and clinical applications of bioceramics.