4 remarkable new health care innovations made possible by plastics
(BPT) – From preemie babies to senior citizens, advances in medical technology benefit everyone. Two basic advances alone — sterile plastic packaging and disposable medical items — have helped prevent countless infections, one of the world’s leading causes of premature deaths.
Healthcare innovations that yesterday seemed futuristic often become part of everyday treatment – standard operating procedure, so to speak. Here are four remarkable new healthcare innovations that one day also may become commonplace… made possible by plastics.
Plastic meniscus
Approximately 720,000 people have knee replacement surgery each year. That number is expected to soar to 3.5 million cases by 2030, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Enter a potential alternative: a plastic meniscus.
What’s a meniscus? It’s the cartilage in your knee between the thigh and shin bones. And as you might imagine, a torn meniscus can hurt quite a bit. Because it won’t heal on its own, patients often opt for knee replacement surgery. In 2015, however, surgeons implanted the first plastic meniscus in the U.S. as a part of an FDA-approved clinical trial (the process already in use in Europe). This minimally invasive alternative could help avoid major knee replacements.
Plastic to prevent bleeding
Researchers are developing an injectable plastic designed to staunch bleeding caused by trauma. A first responder carrying a preloaded syringe would inject the plastic into an injured person on site to improve blood clotting and reduce bleeding.
Current clotting treatments typically require refrigerated or frozen blood products. This syringe could be easily carried in a backpack and could potentially help save countless lives on the battlefield or in places without nearby health care. Researchers say it could reach human clinical trials in five years.
Disappearing plastic heart stent
Resorbable implants (also called dissolvable implants) are medical devices typically made with plastics that perform a specific function and then are resorbed by the body. This technology has now made its way to coronary care.
To open a heart blockage and deliver medication, life-saving “stents” are inserted into coronary arteries. They usually are small metal mesh devices, often covered in plastics, that typically remain in the arteries.
But an FDA panel has approved a resorbable plastic heart stent that doesn’t need the metal mesh. It does its job — opening a heart blockage and dispensing medication — and then just disappears over time. The device is already used in Europe, and its maker expects full FDA approval soon.
3-D printed plastic vertebrae
Imagine losing one or more vertebrae to trauma or cancer. Now imagine receiving a replacement using biocompatible plastics and 3-D printing. The FDA approved such a device in 2015, a load bearing design for long-term replacement of damaged or unstable vertebrae. The plastic mimics the mechanical properties of bone, enabling the body to adapt to the implant.
To learn more about other advances in medical innovations made possible by plastics, visit www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com.