Bioplastics for use in medical industry

Abstract

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are the bio-based,
biodegradable polymers with comparable properties
to petroleum-based plastics in many applications.[1]
PHA microstructures can be formed in bacterial hosts
and findings suggest that PHAs are suitable to develop
devices such as hernia repair devices, nerve repair
devices, repair patches, cardiovascular patches,
adhesion barriers, guided tissue repair and regeneration
devices, nerve guides, orthopedic pins, tendon repair
devices, bone-marrow scaffolds, tissue engineered
cardiovascular devices, other implantable medical
devices, such as sutures, meshes, cochlear implants,
dental implants, and wound dressings.[2] These
materials are biocompatible and can degrade after
being implanted that suggest another application in
drug release kinetics.