NEW ADVANCEMENTS OF BIOPLASTICS IN MEDICAL APPLICATIONS

The bio-plastics that are produced either from fossil material or can be synthesized from biomass or renewable resources, such as Poly-lactic acid (PLA), Polyethylene glycol (PEG) and Poly – ε – caprolactone (PCL) are been reported as a material of choice for biomedical applications due to their good physical properties such as crystallinity, storage modulus, glass transition temperature and bioresorbable property. These biodegradable polymers have wide applications in tissue engineering, wound management, drug delivery, orthopedic devices, manufacturing of fibrous and porous scaffolds. Co-polymerizing these biodegradable monomers in varying proportions with other polymer has extended stiffens and physico-chemical properties. Depending on the origin of their materials, bio-plastics are different in their monomer composition and physical property, which make them interesting from medical point of view. This review thus highlights the synthesis and blending of bio-plastics along with their degradation process when used as in biomedical devices. These biodegradable plastics have hydrolysable linkages in the backbones such as esters, orthoester, anhydride, carbonate, amide, urea and urethane that make them biocompatible to human body. The biocompatibility of such biomedical devices is depends on several factors like site of implantation, material-tissue interactions, temperature and humidity.