Lead researcher, University of Birmingham Professor Andrew Dove Researchers demonstrate the potential to “fine-tune” material properties for biological implants.
Researchers have discovered that succinic acid – a product found naturally within the body – could be used to control the degradation of a new polyester biomaterial created for use in soft tissue repair or flexible electronics. Such control might enable development of biomaterials that would mimic the elasticity and strength of biological tissues yet also biodegrade as needed for healing.
The team consisting of researchers from the University of Birmingham and Duke University developed the biomaterial and discovered that it could control the rate at which water penetrates the material (and therefore degradation speed) by adding varying amounts of succinic acid, they reported in a study published in