Level D· Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studiesNarrative ReviewEurope PMCOpen access

Advantages of Additive Manufacturing for Biomedical Applications of Polyhydroxyalkanoates

Giubilini A., Bondioli F., Messori M., Nyström G., Siqueira G.

Narrative Review, published in Bioengineering (Basel) (2021) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.

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Level D· Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studiesEvidence level of this study

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

  • Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
  • Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
  • Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
  • Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
  • Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
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This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.

Study type
Narrative Review
Journal
Bioengineering (Basel) (2021)
Reported sample size
—
Source database
Europe PMC
PMID
33672131
PMCID
PMC7926534
DOI
10.3390/bioengineering8020029
Citations
16

Abstract (original English)

In recent years, biopolymers have been attracting the attention of researchers and specialists from different fields, including biotechnology, material science, engineering, and medicine. The reason is the possibility of combining sustainability with scientific and technological progress. This is an extremely broad research topic, and a distinction has to be made among different classes and types of biopolymers. Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is a particular family of polyesters, synthetized by microorganisms under unbalanced growth conditions, making them both bio-based and biodegradable polymers with a thermoplastic behavior. Recently, PHAs were used more intensively in biomedical applications because of their tunable mechanical properties, cytocompatibility, adhesion for cells, and controllable biodegradability. Similarly, the 3D-printing technologies show increasing potential in this particular field of application, due to their advantages in tailor-made design, rapid prototyping, and manufacturing of complex structures. In this review, first, the synthesis and the production of PHAs are described, and different production techniques of medical implants are compared. Then, an overview is given on the most recent and relevant medical applications of PHA for drug delivery, vessel stenting, and tissue engineering. A special focus is reserved for the innovations brought by the intr

What this study does not prove

  • • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
  • • This is a narrative review: it collects no new patient data and does not systematically appraise evidence quality.

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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