SYNTHETIC BIOMATERIALS - SHORT TERM
Production and sale of synthetic biomaterials for clinical applications in human health
Plausibly available in the immediate future
(up to 5 years from now)
Biological synthetic materials have potential applications for medical therapies and for basic biological studies. Synthetic biomaterials can allow shaping complex medical devices actionable for drug delivery purposes and, in the field of regenerative medicine, replace or supplement human tissues and organs damaged by pathological or traumatic events.
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We identified and selected the development, production and sale of synthetic biomaterials for clinical applications in human health as an application plausibly available in the immediate future (up to 5 years from now). The selection of this application was based both on the results of the prelimininary consultation and on independent literature search. Biological synthetic materials, fabricated via procedures that mimics complex biological phenomena, have relevant applications for medical therapies and for basic biological studies. Synthetic biomaterials, (metal, biopolymers and bioceramics) can nowadays be used for building versatile and useful therapeutic and diagnostics applications [1]. These biomaterials can be used to create complex medical devices in the field of regenerative medicine, for stimulating tissue regeneration processes, replacing or supplementing hard or soft human tissues and organs damaged by pathological or traumatic events, and treating cardiac failure [2].
Scientific literature emphasises their effectiveness for drug delivery . In this sector, a promising application is the production of micro-needles to reach parts of the human body that cannot be reached by conventional needles [3]. Advanced diagnostic technologies in medical imaging, such as computerized axial tomography (CAT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasound, are another promising field of application of synthetic biomaterials. Though these diagnostic tools are already used in healthcare, synthetic biomaterials can significantly improve the quality and effectiveness of diagnostic outcomes [1]. Thanks to these synthetic biomaterials, new methods and protocols of medical imaging are now being studied in order to implement less or non-invasive procedures for visual representations of the anomalies of the interior body, also during the developmental state (in womb) [4].
Overall, synthetic biomaterials promise to improve healthcare services in society in a significant way. The expected time to market for these technology is short and they are expected to be marketed and used in healthcare practice in the near future, in a period of up to five years.
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Relevant references
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[1] Bhat, S. and Kumar, A. (2013) Biomaterials and bioengineering tomorrow’s healthcare, in “Biomatters”, 3 (3), pp. e24717–11.
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[2] Gu, L. and Mooney, D.J. (2016) Biomaterials and emerging anticancer therapeutics: engineering the microenvironment, in “Nature Reviews Cancer”, 16 (1), pp. 56–66.
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[3] Kim, J.K., Kim, H.J., Chung, J.Y., Lee, J.H., Young, S.B. and Kim, Y.H. (2014) Natural and synthetic biomaterials for controlled drug delivery, in “Archives of Pharmacal Research”, 37 (1), pp. 60–68.
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[4] Hollinger, J.O. (2001) An Introduction to Biomaterials. Second Edition, Boca Raton, Florida, CRC Press. Bryksin, A.V., Brown, A.C., Baksh, M.M., Finn, M.G. and Barker, T.H. (2014) Learning from nature–novel synthetic biology approaches for biomaterial design, in “Acta Biomaterialia”, 10 (4), pp. 1761–1769