Ceramics and Medicine

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Specializes in NICN.

I am totally stuck!!! I am taking Ceramics this semester to fulfill my fine arts elective and am supposed to write a paper on some aspect of Ceramics. My instructor told me that I can write a paper about the use of Ceramics in medicine so that is what I really want to do. I have googled and searched the internet with about every word I can think of and have not been able to come up with anything useful. I thought about apothecaries using ceramic mortal and pestels to grind up the meds but when I googled about that all I came up with were apothecary jars. If anyone can help me out I would greatly appreciate the help.

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Think high tech ceramics -- maybe google ceramic engineering. I am guessing it is used in artificial body parts to some capacity, maybe for heat resistance or protection from xrays or other radiation. Porcelain is definitely used in teeth. Think beyond vessels.

If you want to go ancient, think about problems caused the Greeks and Romans had in storing food and wine in those vessels that had toxic glazes.

Hope that helps.

I am totally stuck!!! I am taking Ceramics this semester to fulfill my fine arts elective and am supposed to write a paper on some aspect of Ceramics. My instructor told me that I can write a paper about the use of Ceramics in medicine so that is what I really want to do. I have googled and searched the internet with about every word I can think of and have not been able to come up with anything useful. I thought about apothecaries using ceramic mortal and pestels to grind up the meds but when I googled about that all I came up with were apothecary jars. If anyone can help me out I would greatly appreciate the help.
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Specializes in MICU.

Hey, Kalico- I'm actually taking an Art History class as a prereq before I start my bachelors, so I feel your pain. I remember checking a book out from the library, from the kids section (for my son), a little while back about medicine history. It actually talked about some ceramic stuff, like the mortal and pestels, early infant feeding gadgets, and the like.

I remember seeing some pics of stuff made of ceramics to help feed injured prisoners in some book about nursing during war. (As you can tell, I spend alot of time flipping through books @ the library!)

Try to find some history of medicine/nursing books, espicially in the children's section since they tend to have alot of pics.

Good luck!

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http://www.camimplants.nl/en/

Here is one. I googled "ceramic orthopedic implants" and found a lot!

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A lot of prosthetics use high-tech ceramics. Googling gave me these hits (and a lot more).

http://www.science.uts.edu.au/cmfs/knee.html

http://www.wmt.com/ceramic/patients/treferences.asp

And, ceramic materials are the preferred materials for dental implants, mostly because of wear resistance and manufacturing price. Good luck on your paper

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Specializes in ER, NICU, NSY and some other stuff.

Think bedpans :p

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