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Biocompatibility
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<p>Biocompatibility is related to the behavior of <a href="/facts/Biomaterials/uBdFNr8I">biomaterials</a> in various contexts. The term refers to the ability of a material to perform with an appropriate host response in a specific situation. The ambiguity of the term reflects the ongoing development of insights into how biomaterials interact with the <a href="/facts/Human_body/WP1QbDTn">human body</a> and eventually how those interactions determine the clinical success of a <a href="/facts/Medical_device/uzUHp474">medical device</a> (such as <a href="/facts/Pacemaker/b90Qt8ND">pacemaker</a>, <a href="/facts/Hip_replacement/YcdY8GGC">hip replacement</a> or <a href="/facts/Stent/h8Ss3zlE">stent</a>). Modern medical devices and <a href="/facts/Prostheses/odTuXtC0">prostheses</a> are often made of more than one material so it might not always be sufficient to talk about the biocompatibility of a specific material. </p><p>Since the <a href="/facts/Immune_response/dtLulqIy">immune response</a> and repair functions in the body are so complicated it is not adequate to describe the biocompatibility of a single material in relation to a single cell type or tissue. Sometimes one hears of biocompatibility testing that is a large battery of <a href="/facts/In_vitro/evp3hAX6">in vitro</a> test that is used in accordance with <a href="/facts/ISO_10993/9yn9dNT0">ISO 10993</a> (or other similar standards) to determine if a certain material (or rather biomedical product) is biocompatible. These tests do not determine the biocompatibility of a material, but they constitute an important step towards the <a href="/facts/Animal_testing/mHMf98y8">animal testing</a> and finally <a href="/facts/Clinical_trial/q8LMr832">clinical trials</a> that will determine the biocompatibility of the material in a given application, and thus <a href="/facts/Medical_device/uzUHp474">medical devices</a> such as <a href="/facts/Implant_(medicine)/3PKvy4I2">implants</a> or <a href="/facts/Drug_delivery_device/vDfboXeT">drug delivery devices</a>. Research results have concluded that during performing in vitro <a href="/facts/Cytotoxicity/SQuTTLoL">cytotoxicity</a> testing of biomaterials, "the authors should carefully specify the conditions of the test and comparison of different studies should be carried out with caution". </p>