A natural or synthetic material that is compatible with living tissue and can be used in medical devices, implants, or tissue engineering.
From bio- + material (from Latin materialis). First used in biomedical engineering around the 1960s-70s as doctors needed to design implants that wouldn't be rejected by the body.
Modern artificial joints are made from biomaterials that trick your immune system into thinking they belong there—your body's 'don't attack me' signal comes from coatings that mimic natural tissue!
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