Microbial Pathogenesis & Infectious Diseases

The Pathology Of Devices

The implantation procedure initiates a response to injury, and mechanisms are activated to produce healing.The degree to which the homeostatic mechanisms are perturbed and the extent of pathophysiologic responses and their resolution are measures of the host reactions to the biomaterial, and they may ultimately determine its biocompatibility and its success or failure as a device or prosthesis. Although it is convenient to consider blood-material interactions separately from tissue-material interactions, it should be kept in mind that the mechanisms involved in both sets of interactions involve both blood and tissue. Furthermore, host reactions are tissue dependent, organ dependent, and species dependent. Obviously, the extent of injury varies depending on the implantation procedure.