Brief Analysis on Five Major Categories of Degradable Polymeric Biomedical Materials

Biomedical materials refer to substances that interact with biological systems for diagnosing, treating, repairing or replacing damaged tissues and organs of organisms, as well as improving their physiological functions. At present, there is a wide variety of degradable biomedical materials, which are mainly categorized into degradable medical polymer materials, synthetic degradable polymer materials, degradable bioceramic materials, degradable medical metallic materials and degradable medical composite materials.

1. Natural Degradable Medical Polymer Materials

Natural degradable medical polymer materials are generally produced through simple processing of natural polymers. Featuring structures highly analogous to human tissues, they can be rapidly degraded via enzymatic reactions inside the body, hence boasting the merit of easy absorption by organisms.

2. Synthetic Degradable Polymer Materials

Compared with conventional natural polymer materials, synthetic degradable polymers fabricated by physical or chemical modification and other manufacturing processes possess diversified and superior properties to meet diverse medical requirements, which endows them with broader application advantages.

3. Degradable Bioceramic Materials

Degradable bioceramic materials are mainly composed of tricalcium phosphate ceramics. After implantation into biological tissues, they will be gradually degraded, absorbed or excreted, and the implanted ceramic materials will eventually be replaced by newly generated biological tissues.

4. Degradable Medical Metallic Materials

5. Degradable Medical Composite Materials