Surface and biological characterization of biomaterials

Abstract There are many ways to characterize biomaterials, be it physically, chemically, or biologically. This chapter focuses on the surface and biological characterization of biomaterials. Techniques that are commonly used in these two areas are described and examples provided to demonstrate their relevance to biomaterials research. Microscopy techniques such as scanning and transmission electron microscopy that are widely used to characterize surface properties of biomaterials have been included. The second part of the chapter covers methods such as cell viability and functional assays as quantitative measures along with immunohistochemistry and histology as qualitative techniques to investigate the interaction of cells with biomaterials.