Biomaterials are artificial or natural materials, used to in the making of structures or implants, to replace the lost or diseased biological structure to restore form and function. Thus biomaterial helps in improving the quality of life and longevity of human beings and the field of biomaterials has shown rapid growth to keep with the demands of an aging population. Biomaterials are used in different parts of the human body as artificial valves in the heart, stents in blood vessels, replacement implants in shoulders, knees, hips, elbows, ears and orthodental structures [1-3]. Amongst all these, the number of implants used for spinal, hip and knee replacements are extremely high. Human joints suffer from degenerative diseases such as arthritis leading to pain or loss in function. The degenerative diseases lead to degradation of the mechanical properties of the bone due to excessive loading or absence of normal biological self-healing process. It has been estimated that 90% of the population over the age of 40 suffers from these kinds of degenerative diseases and the aged people population has increased tremendously in the recent past and it is estimated there will be a seven times increase (from 4.9 million which was in 2002 to 39.7 million by 2010)[4]. Artificial biomaterials are the solutions for these problems, as surgical implantation of these artificial biomaterials of appropriate shapes help in restoring the function of the otherwise functionally compromised structures.

The success of a joint replacement lies with the orthopaedic surgeon, not only to perform the surgery, but also to select the replacement that is best suited for the patient. The selection process can be influenced by the age and weight, along with the activity level of the patient post surgery [5, 6]. It is therefore important to have a complete understanding of the joint replacement and the behavior of materials utilized in total joint applications. Further, selections of a proper biomaterial for the different components of implants are critical for the effectiveness of the implant. There are various factors such as the material properties, design and biocompatibility of the material used, as well as other factors, including the surgeon’s technique used, health and condition of the patient, and the activities of the patient on which selection of biomaterial for a given implant depends. Materials used as biomaterials in the body include metals, polymers, ceramics and composites. The metallic and polymeric biomaterials used in total joint replacement (TJR) applications are discussed in this paper. The next section gives an overview of the various biomaterials used in the past for the total hip joint replacement.