Poly (Lactic Acid) Applications in Biomedical Engineering

Abstract

Medical devices like implants are playing a pivotal role in medicine. As a polyester, Polylactic acid (PLA) and its copolymers are widely used in the medical area. They are used in several sections including cardiovascular and orthopedic devices, as well as advanced technologies of tissue engineering and drug delivery. In this paper, cardiovascular devices including applications of PLLA coating as drug delivery system and BVS material are introduced. Specifically, PLA can be used to foster scaffolds for bone tissue and cardiovascular tissue engineering. Then this paper introduces PLA applied in the form of nanoparticles and micelles in drug delivery. The special degrading process makes PLA an active drug delivery carrier. And it could also be used to produce biodegradable orthopaedic operation devices and offer the advantage of being free from taking out of the human body. Processing techniques are pivotal prerequisites of applications of medical usage, like electrospun fibers are used in cardiovascular and drug delivery applications. The paper summarizes the use of PLA material in those areas, and foresees the future for a prediction of the attractive prospect. Although the applications are faced with limitations like mechanical properties now, they still have a promising future in biomedicine.