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Biomaterials

Bioresorbable Materials, or Biomaterials are materials which, when implanted in the body, breakdown over time to materials that can be eliminated from the body via natural pathways leaving no evidence of the injury or repair. Perhaps the best-known use for bioresorbables is in sutures, but they are also used in a wide range of other medical implants where temporary fixation of tissue is required. Within Smith & Nephew, our Endoscopy business sells a range of suture anchors, meniscal tacks and interference screws made from bioresorbable polymers and our Orthopaedics business sells bioresorbable bone graft substitute materials.

Bioresorbable products offer a number of advantages over their non-resorbable counterparts, for example, they:

Are eliminated from the body and replaced by host tissue
Eliminate the need for a second surgical procedure to remove the implant
Allow transfer of loads to healing bone
Avoid complications that can occur with some metal implants – e.g. stress shielding, corrosion, release of metal ions
Are compatible with MRI imaging
Mean revision surgery is not complicated by presence of an implant
Can be used to deliver bioactive agents etc.

The use of bioresorbable materials in medical devices is therefore growing rapidly and they represent a great opportunity for Smith & Nephew.

There are a number of opportunities to develop improved bioresorbable materials for the future. These include:

Better control of degradation rates
High strength materials
Improved biocompatibility and long term in-vivo response

Our programme is actively developing novel, patented solutions to address these opportunities for new materials. In the longer term, we also want to go beyond this and to start to develop "interactive" biomaterials which are not only more biocompatible but which actively enhance the speed and/or quality of tissue repair.