In the context of biomedical textiles and their use in medical devices, it is important to understand the evolution of biomaterials and how the next generation will enable the body to heal itself.
Released by
Secant Medical Inc.
Josh Simon, Ph.D., Ryan Heniford, and Jeremy Harris, Ph.D, Secant Medical, Inc.10.01.14
The historical use of textiles in surgical procedures and wound healing closely parallels the greater story of biomaterials. In broad terms, there are four generations of biomaterials and biomedical textiles, with the first two generations focused primarily on repairing and recovering from an injury, defect or condition and the last two focusing on regeneration of tissues. Generally, the first three generations elicit a chronic immune response; the body sees these materials as foreign and tries to eliminate them. This can cause a host of issues, from excess inflammation and scarring to outright implant rejection.
The fourth-generation biomedical textile, which will be made possible with the adoption of advanced biomaterials, discourages this harmful inflammatory response and encourages regenerative healing. The levels of work required to achieve this range from bench top laboratory experiments to human clinical trials.
To explore the recent trends and the future direction for the development and commercialization of biomedical textiles in regenerative medicine, it is necessary to look at some areas in which their uses are expanding as well as an ongoing success story in which a material is moving from bench top to market. This paper reviews the use of biomedical textiles in light of the generational scheme of biomaterials, outlines crucial success factors for bringing projects out of university labs and into commercial use, and discusses how Secant Medical’s advanced biomaterial, RegenerezTM, fits within this evolution.