Essential Biomaterials Science

David Williams is a Professor at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, North Carolina, with over forty years' experience in biomaterials science. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Biomaterials, President of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, TERMIS, and a former Director of the UK Centre for Tissue Engineering, where he is now an Emeritus Professor. In addition to these responsibilities he is a Visiting Professor of the Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital, Cape Town, and has travelled extensively to promote excellence in scientific research and writing. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and has received numerous awards, including the 2012 Acta Biomaterialia Gold Medal.

'This is the long overdue single-author compendium students, scientists and clinicians were waiting for. Anyone expecting a dry scientific compilation will be pleasantly surprised by the wonderfully lively style in which Professor Williams takes the reader on an exciting journey into the world of modern biomaterials and the opportunities it offers to patients. In a field long plagued by self-sustained paradigms, wrong models, and wrong questions, this book boldly introduces each chapter on the basis of true clinical needs, taking the captivated reader into the deepest depths of materials science and biology and eventually leaving him in a position where his own understanding and judgment has undergone a quantum leap.' Peter Zilla, University of Cape Town

• 1. The clinical necessity of biomaterials in the twenty-first century; 2. Essential materials science; 3. Biocompatibility pathways; 4. Implantable medical devices and artificial organs; 5. Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering; 6. Drug and gene delivery; 7. Imaging and diagnostic systems; 8. Contemporary and future biomaterials; 9. Infrastructure of the biomaterials industry.