ABSTRACT

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are natural biopolymers and are polyesters of hydroxyalkanoic acids, stored in the cytoplasm of many prokaryotes as intracellular granules. PHA are one of the best-studied biomaterials due to their wide-ranging desirable properties, including variation in mechanical and thermal properties. Several in vitro studies have confirmed PHA as biocompatible and bioresorbable and they have also been reported to be immunologically inert, thereby confirming a high potential for biomedical applications. In the last decade, preliminary experiments conducted in the authors’ lab and in other groups, have demonstrated the high prospects of developing PHA-based medical prototypes for the repair and regeneration of damaged peripheral nerves, cardiac, bone, cartilage, skin, and pancreatic tissue, for medical device development such as coronary artery stents and nerve guidance conduits, as well as for drug delivery. In this chapter, the production of PHA from non-infectious bacteria via fermentation, and how the polymer is further processed for medical application in the areas mentioned above, are discussed. The key issues related to the development of medical devices from PHA are also highlighted in the chapter. In addition, the current use of PHA-based devices in the clinic or in clinical trials, and predictions on the future of PHA in the biomedical field are reviewed. The ultimate aim is to assess the suitability of PHA as a biomaterial for the production of efficient smart devices that will provide an efficient solution for long-standing problems related to organ or tissue transplantation and regeneration.