Table 1.
Scaffold materials in clinical use.
| Polymer | Melting point (°C) | Processing method | Approximate degradation time (months) | Area of application and references | Products with regulatory approval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poly(lactide) | 60–65 | Extrusion, injection moulding, compression moulding, solvent casting | 6–12 | Orthopedic surgery, and oral and maxillofacial surgery | Fix Sorb® (Takiron Co., Ltd, Osaka, Japan; screws, nails, pins), Neofix® (Nicca USA Inc., CA, USA; screws, nails, pins), Bio-Tenodesis® interference screw (Arthrex, FL, USA), Bio-Corkscrew® suture anchor (Arthrex), SmartScrew® (Conmed Linvatec, NY, USA), SmartNail® (Conmed Linvatec), SmartTack® (Conmed Linvatec), SmartPin® (Conmed Linvatec), BioScrew® (Conmed Linvatec), Bio-statak® (Zimmer, IN, USA; suture anchor), prostatic stent, suture anchor, bone cement plug |
| Poly(glycolide) | 225–230 | Extrusion, injection moulding, compression moulding, solvent casting | >24 | Orthopedic surgery, general surgery and suture | Biofix® screws (BD Biosciences, NJ, USA), Dexon™ sutures and mesh (Covidien, Dublin, Ireland), Bondek® suture (Teleflex, NC, USA), Valtrac™ anastomosis ring and prostatic stent (Covidien) |
| Polycaprolactone | ∼60 | Extrusion, injection moulding, compression moulding, solvent casting | >24 | Drug delivery, sutures | Capronor® (Research Triangle Institute, NC, USA), Monocryl® suture (Ethicon, NJ, USA) |
| Poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) Poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) 85:15 Poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) 82:18 Poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) 10:90 |
Amorphous | Extrusion, injection moulding, compression moulding, solvent casting | 5–6 | Sutures, drug delivery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, general surgery, and periodontal surgery | Polysorb™ sutures (Covidien), Biologically Quiet™ (Instrument Makar Inc., MI, USA), interference screw and staple (Instrument Makar Inc.; lactide:glycolide ratio 85:15), Lactosorb® (Biomet, IN, USA; screw, plates, mesh, surgical clip, pins, anchor), vicryl suture (Ethicon), vicryl mesh (Ethicon) |
| Poly(llactide-co-d,l-lactide) 98:2 Poly(llactide-co-d,l-lactide) 50:50 Poly(llactide-co-d,l-lactide) 70:30 Poly(llactide-co-d,l-lactide-co-llactide) |
Amorphous | Extrusion, injection moulding, compression moulding, solvent casting | 12–16 | Orthopedic surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, BD Biosciences (no clinical approval) | Phusis line® interference screw (Phusis materiaux bioresorbables, Le Versound, France), Sysorb® screw (Sulzer, Winterthur, Switzerland; l-lactide:d,l-lactide ratio 50:50), Resor Pin® (Geistlich biomaterial, Wolhusen, Switzerland; l-lactide:d,l-lactide ratio 70:30), Macrosorb® system (MacroPore Inc., CA, USA; screws, plates, mesh, nails, pins; l-lactide:d,l-lactide ratio 70:30), Protego FX screw no hits and no net (MacroPore Inc.), Polypin® (Zimmer), Leadfix® (Zimmer), 3D OPLA® (open-cell polylactic acid) scaffold (BioMed Diagnostics, Inc., OR, USA) |
| Polydioxanone | 58–63 | Extrusion, injection moulding, compression moulding, solvent casting | >24 | Orthopedic surgery, general surgery and sutures | Ethipin (Ethicon), Orthosorb® suture mesh foils (Biomet Inc., IN, USA), bone cement plug (Biomet Inc.) |
| Poly(d,l-lactide-co-caprolactone) 65:35 | Amorphous | Dip coating from chloroform | 24 | Nerve regeneration | Neurolac® (Polyganics, Groningen, The Netherlands) |
| Polycaprolactone-based composite containing dimethacylate monomers | 60 | – | – | Oral surgery | Resilon™ root canal filling (Resilon Research LLC, CT, USA) |
| Polycaprolactone-based polyurethane | Amorphous | – | – | Tissue reinforcement, torn tendon replacement patch and interpositional spacer in osteoarthritis | Artelon® Sportmesh™ (Artimplant, Västra Frölunda, Sweden), Artelon® CMC Spacer Arthro (Artimplant) |
| Lactide-co-caprolactone | – | – | – | To prevent adhesion | Mesofol® surgical sheet (Biomet Inc.) |
Reproduced with permission from [14].