Search Results (35)

Arthroscopic shoulder surgery has undergone significant evolution over the past decades, particularly in the materials used for suture anchors. The transition from metallic to bioabsorbable polymer anchors has revolutionized soft tissue-to-bone repair procedures, offering distinct advantages in terms of biocompatibility, imaging compatibility, and reduced complications. This comprehensive review examines the current state-of-the-art in anchor polymers used in arthroscopic shoulder surgery and their biocomposite formulations. Additionally, we explore the role of biostable polymers and emerging technologies in anchor design. The review synthesizes clinical outcomes, degradation kinetics, biocompatibility profiles, and mechanical properties of various anchor polymer systems. We also discuss the challenges associated with each material type, including osteolysis, cyst formation, premature degradation, and osseointegration. Recent advances in biocomposite anchors demonstrate promising solutions to address these limitations, offering controlled degradation rates and enhanced osteoconductivity. This review provides clinicians and researchers with a comprehensive understanding of anchor polymer technologies, their clinical applications, and future directions in arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Nevertheless, potential publication bias and heterogeneity among studies should be considered when interpreting comparative data. Full article

Background: Three-dimensional (3-D) printing paired with tissue-engineering strategies promises to overcome the volume, contour, and donor-site limitations of traditional breast reconstruction. Patient-specific, bioabsorbable constructs could enable one-stage procedures that better restore aesthetics and sensation. Methods: A narrative review was conducted following a targeted PubMed search (inception—April 2025) using combinations of “breast reconstruction,” “tissue engineering,” “3-D printing,” and “scaffold.” Pre-clinical and clinical studies describing polymer-based chambers or scaffolds for breast mound or nipple regeneration were eligible. Data was extracted on scaffold composition, animal/human model, follow-up, and volumetric or histological outcomes. Results: Forty-three publications met inclusion criteria: 35 pre-clinical, six early-phase clinical, and two device reports. The predominant strategy (68% of studies) combined a vascularized fat flap with a custom 3-D-printed chamber to guide adipose expansion. Poly-lactic acid, poly-glyceric acid, poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid, poly-4-hydroxybutyrate, polycarbonate, and polycaprolactone were the principal polymers investigated; only poly-4-hydroxybutyrate and poly-lactic acid have been tested for nipple scaffolds. Bioabsorbable devices supported up to 140% volume gain in large-animal models, but even the best human series (≤18 months) achieved sub-mastectomy volumes and reported high seroma rates. Mechanical testing showed elastic moduli (5–80 MPa) compatible with native breast tissue, yet long-term load-bearing data are scarce. Conclusions: Current evidence demonstrates biocompatibility and incremental adipose regeneration, but clinical translation is constrained by small sample sizes, incomplete resorption profiles, and regulatory uncertainty. Standardized large-animal protocols, head-to-head polymer comparisons, and early human feasibility trials with validated outcome measures are essential next steps. Nevertheless, the convergence of 3-D printing and tissue engineering represents a paradigm shift that could ultimately enable bespoke, single-stage breast reconstruction with superior aesthetic and functional outcomes. Full article

Bioabsorbable polymer stents (BPSs) were developed to address the long-term clinical drawbacks associated with permanent metallic stents by gradually dissolving over time before these drawbacks have time to develop. However, the polymers used in BPSs, such as polylactic acid (PLA), have lower mechanical properties than metals, often requiring larger struts to provide the necessary structural support. These larger struts have been linked to delayed endothelialisation and an increased risk of stent thrombosis. To address this limitation, this study investigated the incorporation of high-strength basalt fibres into PLA to enhance its mechanical performance, with an emphasis on optimising the processing conditions to achieve notable improvements at minimal fibre loadings. In this regard, PLA/basalt fibre composites were prepared via twin-screw extrusion at screw speeds of 50, 200, and 350 RPM. The effects were assessed through ash content testing, tensile testing, SEM, and rheometry. The results showed that lower screw speeds achieved adequate fibre dispersion while minimising the molecular weight reduction, leading to the most substantial improvement in the mechanical properties. To examine whether a second extrusion run could enhance the fibre dispersion, improving the composite’s uniformity and, therefore, mechanical enhancement, all the batches underwent a second extrusion run. This run improved the dispersion, leading to increased strength and an increased modulus; however, it also reduced the fibre–matrix adhesion and resulted in a notable reduction in the molecular weight. The highest mechanical performance was observed at 10% fibre loading and 50 RPM following a second extrusion run, with the tensile strength increasing by 20.23% and the modulus by 27.52%. This study demonstrates that the processing conditions can influence the fibres’ effectiveness, impacting dispersion, adhesion, and molecular weight retention, all of which affect this composite’s mechanical performance. Full article

The electrospinning process is an effective technique for creating micro- and nanofibers from synthetic and natural polymers, with significant potential for biomedical applications and drug delivery systems due to their high drug-loading capacity, large surface area, and tunable release times. Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) stands out for its excellent thermo-mechanical properties, biodegradability, and bioabsorbability. Electrospun PLLA nanofibrous structures have been extensively investigated as wound dressings, sutures, drug delivery carriers, and tissue engineering scaffolds. This study aims to create and characterize electrospun PLLA membranes loaded with spironolactone (SP), mimicking active compounds of Ganoderma lucidum (GL), to develop a biodegradable patch for topical wound-healing applications. GL, a medicinal mushroom, enhances dermal wound healing with its bioactive compounds, such as polysaccharides and ganoderic acids. Focusing on GL extracts—obtained through green extraction methods—and innovative drug delivery, we created new fibers for wound-healing potential applications. To integrate complex mixtures of bioactive compounds into the fibers, we developed a prototype using a single pure substance representing the extract mixture. This painstaking work presents the results of the fabricating, wetting, moisture properties, material resilience, and full characterization of the product, providing a robust rationale for the fabrication of fibers imbued with more complex extracts. Full article

Bioabsorbable materials have a wide range of applications, such as scaffolds for regenerative medicine and cell transplantation therapy and carriers for drug delivery systems. Therefore, although many researchers are conducting their research and development, few of them have been used in clinical practice. In addition, existing bioabsorbable materials cannot bind to the body’s tissues. If bioabsorbable materials with an adhesive ability to biological tissues can be made, they can ensure the mixture remains fixed to the affected area when mixed with artificial bone or other materials. In addition, if the filling material in the bone defect is soft and uncured, resorption is rapid, which is advantageous for bone regeneration. In this paper, the development and process of a new bioabsorbable material “Phosphorylated pullulan” and its capability as a bone replacement material were demonstrated. Phosphorylated pullulan, which was developed based on the tooth adhesion theory, is the only bioabsorbable material able to adhere to bone and teeth. The phosphorylated pullulan and β-TCP mixture is a non-hardening putty. It is useful as a new resorbable bone replacement material with an adhesive ability for bone defects around implants. Full article

Chemotherapy together with surgery and/or radiotherapy are the most common therapeutic methods for treating cancer. However, the off-target effects of chemotherapy are known to produce side effects and dose-limiting toxicities. Novel delivery platforms based on natural and synthetic polymers with enhanced pharmacokinetic and therapeutic potential for the treatment of cancer have grown tremendously over the past 10 years. Polymers can facilitate selective targeting, enhance and prolong circulation, improve delivery, and provide the controlled release of cargos through various mechanisms, including physical adsorption, chemical conjugation, and/or internal loading. Notably, polymers that are biodegradable, biocompatible, and physicochemically stable are considered to be ideal delivery carriers. This biomimetic and bio-inspired system offers a bright future for effective drug delivery with the potential to overcome the obstacles encountered. This review focuses on the barriers that impact the success of chemotherapy drug delivery as well as the recent developments based on natural and synthetic polymers as platforms for improving drug delivery for treating cancer. Full article

Polymeric drug delivery technology, which allows for medicinal ingredients to enter a cell more easily, has advanced considerably in recent decades. Innovative medication delivery strategies use biodegradable and bio-reducible polymers, and progress in the field has been accelerated by future possible research applications. Natural polymers utilized in polymeric drug delivery systems include arginine, chitosan, dextrin, polysaccharides, poly(glycolic acid), poly(lactic acid), and hyaluronic acid. Additionally, poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide), poly(ethylenimine), dendritic polymers, biodegradable polymers, and bioabsorbable polymers as well as biomimetic and bio-related polymeric systems and drug-free macromolecular therapies have been employed in polymeric drug delivery. Different synthetic and natural biomaterials are in the clinical phase to mitigate different diseases. Drug delivery methods using natural and synthetic polymers are becoming increasingly common in the pharmaceutical industry, with biocompatible and bio-related copolymers and dendrimers having helped cure cancer as drug delivery systems. This review discusses all the above components and how, by combining synthetic and biological approaches, micro- and nano-drug delivery systems can result in revolutionary polymeric drug and gene delivery devices. Full article

(1) Background: Currently, there are no pharmacological treatments that can modify the course of osteoarthritis (OA). For this reason, the present work is focused on generating knowledge for the development of new therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of OA. The objective of this work was to develop an articular hybrid implant with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from sheep. The cells were differentiated into cartilage and bone using a bioabsorbable polymer with 3D printing Technology. (2) Methods: MSCs pre-differentiated to chondrocytes and osteoblasts were seeded on the 3D-printed scaffolds using polylactic acid (PLA). These were later implanted for 3 months in the thoracic ribs area and for 6 months inside the femoral head and outside of the joint capsule. After recovery, we analyzed the expressions of specific markers for bone and cartilage in the implants (3) Results: After 3 months, in lateral implants, the expression for bone markers (OPN, RUNX2) was similar to that of the control; at 6 months, we obtained a higher expression of bone markers in the implants with pre-differentiated MCS to osteoblasts outside and inside the joint. For cartilage markers, three months after the placement of the lateral implant, the expressions of Aggrecan and SOX9 COL2A1 were similar to those of the control, but the expression of COL2A1 was less; at 6 months, the three cartilage markers SOX9, Aggrecan, and COL2A1 showed significant expressions in the implant inside joint with pre-differentiated MCS to chondrocytes. (4) Conclusions: In this study, we demonstrated that the presence of pre-differentiated MSCs in the implants was a determinant factor for the expression of bone- and cartilage-specific markers at three and six months. We managed to generate a practical and easy-to-implement articular surface repair model. Full article

Bioresorbable nanomembranes (NMs) and nanoparticles (NPs) are powerful polymeric materials playing an important role in biomedicine, as they can effectively reduce infections and inflammatory clinical patient conditions due to their high biocompatibility, ability to physically interact with biomolecules, large surface area, and low toxicity. In this review, the most common bioabsorbable materials such as those belonging to natural polymers and proteins for the manufacture of NMs and NPs are reviewed. In addition to biocompatibility and bioresorption, current methodology on surface functionalization is also revisited and the most recent applications are highlighted. Considering the most recent use in the field of biosensors, tethered lipid bilayers, drug delivery, wound dressing, skin regeneration, targeted chemotherapy and imaging/diagnostics, functionalized NMs and NPs have become one of the main pillars of modern biomedical applications. Full article

This study presents a methodology that combines experimental tests and the finite element method, which is able to analyse the influence of the geometry on the mechanical behaviour of stents made of bioabsorbable polymer PLA (PolyLactic Acid) during their expansion in the treatment of coarctation of the aorta (CoA). Tensile tests with standardized specimen samples were conducted to determine the properties of a 3D-printed PLA. A finite element model of a new stent prototype was generated from CAD files. A rigid cylinder simulating the expansion balloon was also created to simulate the stent opening performance. A tensile test with 3D-printed customized stent specimens was performed to validate the FE stent model. Stent performance was evaluated in terms of elastic return, recoil, and stress levels. The 3D-printed PLA presented an elastic modulus of 1.5 GPa and a yield strength of 30.6 MPa, lower than non-3D-printed PLA. It can also be inferred that crimping had little effect on stent circular recoil performance, as the difference between the two scenarios was on average 1.81%. For an expansion of diameters ranging from 12 mm to 15 mm, as the maximum opening diameter increases, the recoil levels decrease, ranging from 10 to 16.75% within the reported range. These results point out the importance of testing the 3D-printed PLA under the conditions of using it to access its material properties; the results also indicate that the crimping process could be disregarded in simulations to obtain fast results with lower computational cost and that new proposed stent geometry made of PLA might be suitable for use in CoA treatments—the approach that has not been applied before. The next steps will be to simulate the opening of an aorta vessel using this geometry. Full article

Bone grafting is commonly used as a treatment to repair bone defects. However, its use is challenged by the presence of medical conditions that weaken the bone, like osteoporosis. Calcium phosphate cement (CPC) is used to restore bone defects, and it is commonly available as a bioabsorbable cement paste. However, its use in clinical settings is limited by inadequate mechanical strength, inferior anti-washout characteristics, and poor osteogenic activity. There have been attempts to overcome these shortcomings by adding various natural or synthetic materials as enhancers to CPC. This review summarises the current evidence on the physical, mechanical, and biological properties of CPC after doping with synthetic materials. The incorporation of CPC with polymers, biomimetic materials, chemical elements/compounds, and combination with two or more synthetic materials showed improvement in biocompatibility, bioactivity, anti-washout properties, and mechanical strength. However, the mechanical property of CPC doped with trimethyl chitosan or strontium was decreased. In conclusion, doping of synthetic materials enhances the osteogenic features of pure CPC. The positive findings from in vitro and in vivo studies await further validation on the efficacy of these reinforced CPC composites in clinical settings. Full article

The low solubility and slow dissolution of hydrophobic drugs is a major challenge for the pharmaceutical industry. In this paper, we present the synthesis of surface-functionalized poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles for incorporation into corticosteroid dexamethasone to improve its in vitro dissolution profile. The PLGA crystals were mixed with a strong acid mixture, and their microwave-assisted reaction led to a high degree of oxidation. The resulting nanostructured, functionalized PLGA (nfPLGA), was quite water-dispersible compared to the original PLGA, which was non-dispersible. SEM-EDS analysis showed 53% surface oxygen concentration in the nfPLGA compared to the original PLGA, which had only 25%. The nfPLGA was incorporated into dexamethasone (DXM) crystals via antisolvent precipitation. Based on SEM, RAMAN, XRD, TGA and DSC measurements, the nfPLGA-incorporated composites retained their original crystal structures and polymorphs. The solubility of DXM after nfPLGA incorporation (DXM–nfPLGA) increased from 6.21 mg/L to as high as 87.1 mg/L and formed a relatively stable suspension with a zeta potential of −44.3 mV. Octanol–water partitioning also showed a similar trend as the logP reduced from 1.96 for pure DXM to 0.24 for DXM–nfPLGA. In vitro dissolution testing showed 14.0 times higher aqueous dissolution of DXM–nfPLGA compared to pure DXM. The time for 50% (T₅₀) and 80% (T₈₀) of gastro medium dissolution decreased significantly for the nfPLGA composites; T₅₀ reduced from 57.0 to 18.0 min and T₈₀ reduced from unachievable to 35.0 min. Overall, the PLGA, which is an FDA-approved, bioabsorbable polymer, can be used to enhance the dissolution of hydrophobic pharmaceuticals and this can lead to higher efficacy and lower required dosage. Full article

In orthopedics, bone fixation imposes the use of implants in almost all cases. Over time, the materials used for the implant have evolved from inert materials to those that mimic the morphology of the bone. Therefore, bioabsorbable, biocompatible, and bioactive materials have emerged. Our study aimed to review the main types of implant materials used in orthopedics and present their advantages and drawbacks. We have searched for the pros and cons of the various types of material in the literature from over the last twenty years. The studied data show that consecrated metal alloys, still widely used, can be successfully replaced by new types of polymers. The data from the literature show that, by manipulating their composition, the polymeric compounds can simulate the structure of the different layers of human bone, while preserving its mechanical characteristics. In addition, manipulation of the polymer composition can provide the initiation of desired cellular responses. Among the implanting materials, polyurethane is distinguished as the most versatile polymeric material for use both as orthopedic implants and as material for biomechanical testing of various bone reduction and fixation techniques. Full article

Polylactide (PLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) are biodegradable and bioabsorbable thermoplastic polymers considered as promising materials for oral applications. However, any abiotic surface used, especially in areas naturally colonized by microorganisms, provides a favorable interface for microbial growth and biofilm development. In this study, we investigated the biofilm formation of C. krusei and S. mutans on the surface of PLA and PCL immersed in the artificial saliva. Using microscopic (AFM, CLSM) observations and spectrometric measurements, we assessed the mass and topography of biofilm that developed on PLA and PCL surfaces. Incubated up to 56 days in specially prepared saliva and microorganisms medium, solid polymer samples were examined for surface properties (wettability, roughness, elastic modulus of the surface layer), structure (molecular weight, crystallinity), and mechanical properties (hardness, tensile strength). It has been shown that biofilm, especially S. mutans, promotes polymer degradation. Our findings indicate the need for additional antimicrobial strategies for the effective oral applications of PLA and PCL. Full article

Polylactic acid (PLA) has become one of the most commonly used polymers in medical devices given its biocompatible, biodegradable and bioabsorbable properties. In addition, due to PLA’s thermoplastic behaviour, these medical devices are now obtained using 3D printing technologies. Once obtained, the 3D-printed PLA devices undergo different sterilisation procedures, which are essential to prevent infections. This work was an in-depth study of the physicochemical changes caused by novel and conventional sterilisation techniques on 3D-printed PLA and their impact on the biological response in terms of toxicity. The 3D-printed PLA physicochemical (XPS, FTIR, DSC, XRD) and mechanical properties as well as the hydrophilic degree were evaluated after sterilisation using saturated steam (SS), low temperature steam with formaldehyde (LTSF), gamma irradiation (GR), hydrogen peroxide gas plasma (HPGP) and CO₂ under critical conditions (SCCO). The biological response was tested in vitro (fibroblasts NCTC-929) and in vivo (embryos and larvae wild-type zebrafish Danio rerio). The results indicated that after GR sterilisation, PLA preserved the O:C ratio and the semi-crystalline structure. Significant changes in the polymer surface were found after HPGP, LTSF and SS sterilisations, with a decrease in the O:C ratio. Moreover, the FTIR, DSC and XRD analysis revealed PLA crystallisation after SS sterilisation, with a 52.9% increase in the crystallinity index. This structural change was also reflected in the mechanical properties and wettability. An increase in crystallinity was also observed after SCCO and LTSF sterilisations, although to a lesser extent. Despite these changes, the biological evaluation revealed that none of the techniques were shown to promote the release of toxic compounds or PLA modifications with toxicity effects. GR sterilisation was concluded as the least reactive technique with good perspectives in the biological response, not only at the level of toxicity but at all levels, since the 3D-printed PLA remained almost unaltered. Full article