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Medical Polymers :
Emerging Trends & Opportunities
Like any other sector, the Plastic industry or the
medical device industry is also looking for emerging
trends. The origin for some of the trends are from
campaign based ideology - the examples for which in the
medical applications are requirements for bisphenol-A
free materials, Polyvinylchloride free devices etc.
History has shown that such public-driven trends
generally follow the cycle of becoming public and
disappearing regularly without major changes.
However, it is said that most future trends in the
medical device sector are generated within research
groups, industry R & D activities and during the
applications.
All very good looking ideas may be an actual trends.
Some of the ideas which have, are tested after thorough
investigation, shown potential for implementation and
are driven by higher integration level of technologies
between technocrats, medical professionals and patients.
A few of such material based trends are highlighted in
this article.
These trends are mainly driven by general aspects of
higher integration level of technologies, but also
between engineers, medical professionals, and patients.
Thermoplastic Elastomers
Many medical devices need combination of hard and soft
materials such as respiratory masks, precision syringes,
tubings, catheters, bags for infusion solutions,
implants such as artificial heart valves and joints etc
requiring a long time use. The reason such materials
will be preferred is because of their high degree
of purity (low level of extractable compounds), their
recyclability and cost effectiveness. Also for their
application to replace latex which is understood to
cause allergic reactions in some patients. In addition,
they are easy to sterilize and are flexible.
Technological advancement in the thermoplastic elastomer
processing industry has made these elastomers an ideal
choice for medical device manufacturing, leading to an
increase in demand for thermoplastic medical elastomers
in medical devices. As per “Markets & Markets”, Medical
Elastomers Market was valued at USD 5.11 Billion in 2016
and is projected to reach USD 7.92 Billion by 2022, at a
CAGR of 7.5%.
Most future trends are generated within Research
Groups, Industry R & D Activities, during the
applications and integration between the Engineers,
Medical Professionals and Patients.
Biodegradable Polymers
Within the world of medical devices, biodegradable
polymers usually refer to a plastic that will be
dismantled inside the human body by means of metabolism
within a period between several days and years. Put
simply, an implant manufactured from these materials
will completely disappear without further action.
A well-established medical application is absorbent
surgical suture materials that were introduced in the
early 1960s. Currently there are five major groups of
biodegradable plastic materials commercially available.
However, by combining these by means of copolymerization
or compounding, an enormous variety of materials may be
obtained.
• Polyglycolic Acid (PGA)
• Polylactic Acid (PLA)
• Polycaprolactone (PCL)
• Polyanhydrides
• Polylactic-Co-Glycolic Acid (PLGA)
An implant basing on one of these biodegradable polymers
subsequently will be replaced by body’s own material,
making implant removal after healing superfluous.
Widespread applications are screws, plates, and fixing
pins for osteosynthesis. This comes along with several
advantages. The implant does bear the entire load direct
after implantation. The patient regains mobility
immediately and the body gets time to start bone
healing.
According to an estimate, Biogradable Bone Graft
Polymers market size was over USD 350 million in 2016
(including Joint Reconstruction, Cramiomaxillio facial,
Dental, Spine, Orthobiologics & others) and is expected
to grow at a CAGR over 7.5 % till 2024.
Biodegradable Polymers for Targeted Drug Delivery
Over the past decades, biodegradable polymers have
proven to be a very meaningful approach for targeted
drug delivery. These types of polymers will disintegrate
and eventually vanish when implanted into the human
body, whereas the time and process of disintegration may
be actively influenced by engineering. For instance,
many medical devices are used as implants, serving as
drug delivery system, intended to continuously
administering a drug without any need for repeating
intake of medicines. This offers diverse benefits. Drug
may be delivered continuously right at the desired
location within the human body, bypassing the digestive
system and the liver. Further, convenience of the
patient is increased as he is released from remembering
when and how to intake drugs or any additional surgical
intervention to remove the implant. Prominent example is
small subcutaneous rodshaped implants, a few millimeters
in diameter and 5-10 mm in length, applied as a
contraceptive.
Shape-Memory Polymers
Another interesting group of plastics are shape-memory
polymers (SMPs). Just like the better-known shape-memory
alloys, these will “remember” their original shape when
deformed, and flip back to the initial shape when
exposed to an external stimulus. These stimuli may be an
electric field, light, changes in pH value, or, as most
commonly, changes in temperature. Some SMPs even can
retain three shapes, their initial (permanent) shape and
two deformed morphologies. This effect offers several
interesting options.
A commonly known application is bracelets that alter the
position of teeth over a period of several months, or
coronary stents that strut the artery and prevent an
elastic recoil. The alteration in shape also may be used
for clamping. Feasible are form - and/or force fitting
fastenings. Applications for that are devices such as
surgical staplers, remotely controlled switchable
implants, or clamps to fix artificial heart valve.
More over, while shape-memory alloys already find
widespread applications in medical devices, such as
dental wires, cardiovascular stents, or orthopaedic
implants, the utilization of SMPs still is in its very
beginnings.
SMPs have potential applications as intravenous cannula,
self-adjusting orthodontic wires and selectively pliable
tools for small scale surgical procedures where
currently metal-based shape memory alloys such as
Nitinol are widely used. Another application of SMP in
the medical field could be its use in implants, e.g.
minimally invasive (trough small incisions or natural
orifices) implantation of a device in its small
temporary shape which after activating the shape memory
by e.g. temperature increase assumes its permanent (and
mostly bulkier) shape.
The integration of SMPs in fabric provides many
fascinating and improved properties such as good
aesthetic appeal, comfort, textile soft display, smart
controlled drug release, fantasy design, wound
monitoring, smart wetting properties and protection
against extreme variations in environmental conditions. |
