Absorbable Bone Fixation Compound (PLA/PLGA)

About This Product

This grade is a high-purity medical compound of polylactic acid and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid), supplied as a pellet compound for absorbable fixation devices. Both are aliphatic polyesters made by ring-opening polymerisation of lactide and glycolide, and both resorb by hydrolysis of the ester backbone; glycolide units are less bulky and more hydrophilic, so they crystallise less readily and take up water more freely. An absorbable fixation device holds bone while it unites and is then resorbed, avoiding the removal surgery a metal implant may require and removing the long-term stress shielding a permanent implant causes, in which a stiff screw carries load the healing bone would otherwise take and the unloaded bone remodels away. PLA/PLGA is the established chemistry: the glycolide fraction sets the degradation rate, so strength retention can be matched to the healing period of the site. Too fast a glycolide fraction and strength is lost before the bone can carry load; too slow and the advantage over metal narrows. Manufacturing a medical device from this compound requires the manufacturer's own regulatory approvals, including an appropriate quality system such as ISO 13485 and the clinical and biocompatibility evidence required in the target market. We supply the material; we do not supply medical devices and make no clinical claim. It is used in absorbable bone screws, fixation devices and orthopaedic device manufacture. Bio Green Chem supplies the medical grade PLA/PLGA compound to specification on lactide to glycolide ratio, molecular weight, residual monomer and pellet form.