It ’s Time for New Medtech Materials—Could Academia Help?

The medtech industry is mostly still using the same polymers and metallic materials used 60 years ago, says Jeremy J. Harris, Ph.D., director, research, for Secant Group. “There’s been little introduction of new materials,” with the exception of resorbables, he told MD+DI. But “as medical technology advances, such as it is in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering, there’s a greater demand for new materials.” Such insufficiency can result in a “compliance mismatch” between devices and tissue, he said. “There’s a difference in the physical properties of devices versus those of tissues. We’ve come a long way in understanding tissue response, so now there’s a need to best match the physical properties of the device to that of the tissue.” For instance, when the industry first started using certain materials years ago, “it looked at whether they were inert or resulted in a minimal inflammatory response or whether they matched the tensile strength of bone, for instance,” Harris said. “As we move into new therapies, it’s not just the physical properties that are important—it’s now also understanding the biological interactions between the m...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Materials Source Type: news