Bioceramics Hold Immense Market Potential With the Surging Demand for Biocompatible Materials
Bioceramics are biomaterials that are utilized for the treatment, augmentation, repair, or replacement of hard tissues that are diseased or damaged inside the human body.
It has been noticed by the researchers and medical professionals that the performance of metallic orthopaedic implants is limited due to their corrosion within the human body. Hence, a need for biomaterials is realized which are capable of providing excellent biocompatibility containing three basic characteristics including bioinert, bioactive, and bioresorbable. The market for bioceramics is continuing to gain momentum during the forecast period with the growing demand for biomaterials exhibiting excellent biocompatibility when placed inside a human body. Scientists are devising novel ways in order to provide assistive care to fractures and damaged tissues in the areas of nanomedicine and tissue engineering.
These wide class of chemicals and materials comprising biocompatible ceramics include calcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite, polymer composites, bioactive glasses, zirconia, titania, and alumina as some of the common bioceramics. The materials are hard in structure and are capable of either being densely packed or are porous as per the required application. Bioceramics do not pose any resemblance to porcelain-type ceramics. These materials, rather, are known to imitate the body’s own biomaterials and are sturdy metal oxide materials. The increasing global geriatric population is augmenting the market demand with the rise of age-associated bone and dental health problems. As per the United Nations predictions, the global population aged 80 years and above, the population size is predicted to increase from 143 million in 2019 to attain a population size of 426 million in 2050.
Source: The United Nations, global population aged 80 years and above, in million
The increasing incidence of non-fatal road accidents leading to fractures and bone injuries are further propelling the market demand during the forecast period. As per the European Commission, Annual Accident report 2018, number of injury accidents in the European Union rose from 1,055.742 in 2013 to 1,099.032 in 2016.
Source: CARE, European Commission, No. of injury accidents in EU, Annual Accident Report 2018
Bioceramics are used as scaffolds for cell proliferation in order to regrow tissues, and finally resulting into biodegradation. This is the currently followed trend in tissue engineering where scaffolds that contain calcium phosphate, alumina, and zirconia are utilized for the growth of tissues and bone cells. Porous biomaterials are utilized for applications that are related to scaffolds. The cells are grown either in-vivo or in-vitro. For in-vivo, scaffolds are targeted inside a human body at the area of interest, the cells are grown on the top of the scaffold and after the accomplishment of the objective, the scaffold biomaterial degrades and is excreted from the body. On the other hand, scaffolds are utilized in-vitro for external cell proliferation where the new cells are generated as per the required demand and then are easily placed in the human body. Some of the inert bioceramics are being utilized for the designing of femoral heads, acetabular cups for hip replacement and for dental implants. With the growing research in nanotechnology, nano-structured bio-inert ceramics with improvements in toughness and stability are providing an opportunity for bioceramics market growth in the forecast period. The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) is a United States Government research and development initiative that involve around 20 departments and agencies working in collaboration in the field of nanotechnology including biomedical applications as well. In 2020, a budget comprising more than USD1.4 billion was requested for the NNI for investment in basic research, early-stage applied research, and technology transfer resulting in breakthroughs in the future. The budget, since the NNI inception, i.e. 2001, is accounted for a total amount of around USD29 billion. Such R&D funding initiatives will continue to promote the market growth during the course of the forecast period. Federal organizations with huge investments include National Institutes for Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and National Institute of Standards and Technology. NNI supports research and development in nanotechnology in academic organizations, government organizations, and industrial laboratories throughout the United States.
Additionally, with the growing trend of regenerative medicine, the bioceramics market is predicted to surge with a significant growth rate in the forecast period. Hydroxyapatite are capable of being utilized for the creation of biomimetic films associated with bone growth. These provide biomimetic control for mimicking body fluids and hence make them biocompatible. These bioceramics films are loaded and introduced during the early stages of bone calcification in order to provide help with the bone cells to proliferate.
Furthermore, with the growing drug delivery industry, the market is propelled to grow during the forecast period. Bioceramics have been utilized for delivering antibiotics, anticancer drugs, and anticoagulants and many more. These materials are highly compatible with the body tissues and fluids, hence are proven to be an efficient drug delivery carrier for targeted drug delivery. Additionally, the suitability of these biomaterials owing to their non-immunogenicity and extreme compatibility with the integrated drugs is further providing an impetus in driving the growth of bioceramics market in the forecast period.
The novel coronavirus is set to impact the market growth in a negative manner in 2020. This is because of the fact that medical device manufacturers that are dependent on healthcare facilities for clinical trial data, due to COVID-19, it is difficult for the medical device manufacturers to make informed decisions regarding their products, supply chain and regulatory commitments. In addition, in response to the global pandemic crisis, efforts are being made towards providing the medical facilities for the treatment of COVID-19 affected individuals, this is creating difficulty for the manufacturers to perform clinical trials in order to check the efficacy of their products, further contributing to a decline in the market growth in the current year.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Vibha Saklani is a Market Research Analyst at KSI, working on the estimates and global reports on multiple industries spanning from IoT to food and beverages, with a special knack for healthcare, medical devices, and related markets. With the addition of her formal education in Biotechnology and having a research background, she is able to shed more light on the detailed analysis of the story. To read more articles by her, and for more information regarding multiple global markets, visit www.knowledge-sourcing.com.