Preface to the 2nd Edition

Nanoceramics in Clinical Use: from Materials to Applications arises as a revision of our previous book Biomimetic Nanoceramics in Clinical Use. This first work tackled the biomedical applications of those nanoceramics that mimic the mineral component of the bones (mainly nanoapatites) and also those bioceramics that reproduce the bone mineralization processes after being implanted in vivo, such as some calcium phosphates and bioactive glasses. Over recent years, new nanoceramics have been added to the arsenal of biomaterials available for applications in bone tissue regeneration. Moreover, the incorporation of supramolecular chemistry to the low-temperature synthesis of bioceramics has expanded their concept beyond “materials of ceramic origin of which a single unit is sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm”. The addition of structure-directing agents allows for the design of patterns, porosities and textures at the nanometrical scale in the macro-objects, thus significantly changing their in vivo behavior. Of course, these nanostructures can also be tailored over nanoparticles, which represent a revolution in the therapeutic field of nanomedicine as well as new diagnosis agents.

In view of this new scenario, we have felt impelled to deal with all these topics beyond the role that some nanoceramics play in biomineralization skeletal processes. For these reason the title has been changed and expanded to Nanoceramics in Clinical use: from Materials to Applications and incorporates three new chapters to the already existing, but revised, ones of the previous volume. Therefore this work is addressed to the same readership but in a more ambitious way, adapting its contents to the requirements of the under- and post-graduate subject “nanoparticles in biomedicine” implanted in different universities all over the world.

The authors thank the Royal Society of Chemistry for the proposal to carry out this project, as well as José Manuel Moreno, Pilar Cabañas and Fernando Conde for their assistance during the elaboration of this book. Finally, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to all our coworkers and colleagues who have contributed to these studies over the years with their effort and thinking.

María Vallet-Regí

Daniel Arcos