Recent progress in biodegradable and bioresorbable materials: From passive implants to active electronics

Abstract Biodegradable and Bioresorbable materials, either for passive implants or wearable and active implantable devices, added a new dimension to healthcare research due to their low cost, convenience, continuous monitoring and physical augmentation. Advanced material chemistry and modern fabrication techniques have developed fully degradable implants that enable controlled degradation kinetic to ensure operational support for repairing and restructuring the surrounding tissue of the defected organ. Besides, integrated bioelectronics coupled with a wireless power system can continuously monitor and record physiological signals and conditions. This review comparatively evaluates physical and mechanical properties, degradation behavior, biocompatibility and convenient fabrication of different biodegradable and bioresorbable materials used for structural supports (substrate, encapsulation) or active device components (conductor, semiconductor, dielectric). Consecutively, material integration and device architecture of biodegradable active electronics including electronic skin, different physical and chemical sensors, self-powered and self-healable sensors have been illustrated, estimating the in vivo and in vitro device performance. Finally, some short-term and long-term challenges are pointed out to overcome the current challenges and speed up future research to commercialize the enormous expansion of the biomedical field.