Surface techniques to examine the biomaterial-host interface: an introduction to the papers

Substantial improvements have been made over the past four decades in the ability of biomedical engineers to provide support to organs that fail due to disease or injury through the use of medical devices made from synthetic materials. However, much research is still needed to improve both the materials used in, and the mechanical design of such devices. Several papers are presented that describe techniques that provide critical information about events at the interface between implanted biomaterials and the host.