Foreword

This British Standard has been prepared under the direction of the Surgical Instruments and Medical Equipment Standards Committee.

Advancements in the field of implant surgery proceed by the collaborative efforts of those skilled in a number of diverse activities, each having a specialized language. Definitions of terms relating to surgical implants were prepared with two main purposes in view, namely:

a) to promote precision and uniformity in the use of terms relating to the various aspects of surgical implants;
b) to enable workers in different fields to understand one another.

The intention has been to provide information on terms used in the biological, medical, engineering and materials science aspects of surgical implants. It is emphasized that many of the terms included in this Part of BS 6324 will be found in British Standards directly concerned with particular disciplines, as well as in many text books. The wording of these definitions has in some instances been modified to facilitate understanding of the concepts by readers who are not specialists in these particular disciplines; the definitions are not otherwise incompatible with the general definitions as used and understood in the relevant industries. Every attempt has been made to align the terms and definitions with modern practice. This glossary does not purport to be a comprehensive list of all terms used in connection with surgical implants and has been restricted to those terms most frequently used. Where terms are considered to be deprecated, this has been stated.

The glossary has been prepared in four Parts as follows:

— Part 1: Glossary of general medical terms;
— Part 2: Glossary of terms relating to mechanics;
— Part 3: Glossary of terms relating to materials;
— Part 4: Glossary of orthopaedic surgical terms.

Further consideration is being given to the preparation of other Parts covering such fields as cardiovascular, neuro-surgical and genito-urinary implant surgery.

Attention is also drawn to the Parts of BS 3531 dealing with surgical implants. Each term in the glossary has been allocated a number of the type 20101 where the first three digits indicate the section number and the first digit of that group indicates the Part of the glossary. The remaining two digits give the term number within the section.

Where two or more terms have the same meaning, the preferred term is given in bold type and the other terms are given in medium type and, if deprecated, are so indicated.

An alphabetical index of the terms contained in each Part of the glossary is given at the end of that Part. Those terms given in italic typeface in the definitions are themselves defined elsewhere in the same Part and are included in the index for ease of reference.

A British Standard does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users of British Standards are responsible for their correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity from legal obligations.

Amendments/corrigenda issued since publication

Date	Text affected

BS 6324-2:1983

Terms relating to surgical implants - Glossary of terms relating to mechanics

Current

Published:

31 Jan 1984