4D Medicine: biodegradable and bioabsorbable medical devices
4D Medicine was founded in 2020 by the Universities Â鶹¾«Ñ¡ and Warwick to commercialise a new class of materials – liquid resins that can be printed into solid 3D devices to help patients recover from major medical procedures more quickly.
The polycarbonate-based resins, developed by Professor Andrew Dove and Dr Andrew Weems at the University’s School of Chemistry, were the result of a programme of tissue engineering and biomaterials research to create a polymer that would encourage healthy tissue growth, and optimise how implanted materials degrade.
Whilst existing materials (which are still in use today) had been widely adopted, their widespread use had revealed a number of shortcomings.
These included local inflammatory responses, unpredictable outcomes of the degradation process leading to premature loss of device function or late infection and issues with biomechanical performance due to lack of material strength. Moreover, the existing materials have processing and manufacturing limitations that constrain design freedom, inhibiting innovation in areas of unmet medical need.
The University researchers developed a new type of polycarbonate-urethane chemistry, which is used in the formulation of 4D Medicine’s 4Degra®, a patented, game-changing medical polymer, that meets the exacting specifications needed for the next generation of implantable medical devices:
Tunable mechanical properties
4Degra®’s elasticity and strength can be adjusted according to the specific application – allowing for the creation of both flexible products for use in soft tissue repair and rigid devices for more mechanically demanding uses such as trauma fixation plates, pins, screws, and load-bearing bone regeneration scaffolds.
Shape memory capabilities
Softer grades of 4Degra® have shape memory capabilities – and this is especially beneficial for devices used in minimally invasive surgery such as stents, films, and soft tissue scaffolds. These devices can be inserted in compact form, before expanding to their intended shape, improving surgical outcomes and patient experiences.
3D printing, complex shapes and customisation
4Degra® can be processed via widely available 3D printing technology, allowing the creation of complex shapes and highly detailed or customised medical devices that are impossible to produce using conventional methods.
Controlled surface degradation
4Degra® degrades in a controlled manner at the surface, preventing the rapid loss of structural integrity and ensuring gradual, predictable absorption over time.
Biocompatability and non-toxicity
4Degra® degrades to benign non-toxic biproducts that can be absorbed by the body without causing harmful reactions, making it suitable for implantation into tissues without the risk of long-term complications.
4D Medicine is currently taking its first product, a bioabsorbable interference screw for musculoskeletal soft tissue fixation, through the U.S. FDA 510(k) regulatory pathway.
It recently announced that its subsidiary company 4D Biomaterials Ltd is certificated to ISO 13485 - the globally recognised standard for medical device quality management systems.
And this is more than just an administrative milestone — it’s a major step in the commercialisation strategy and it validates the growing maturity of the manufacturing operations as the innovative technology moves towards market entry.