Current Status of Development and Intellectual Properties of Biomimetic Medical Materials

Biomimetic medical materials are the biomaterials which mimic the important characteristic features of natural material/tissue structures or architectures and are mainly used in biomedical field for their applications in tissue regeneration, medical devices, biosensors and drug delivery. It is one of the leading research topics which have the ability to replace the existing biomaterials and medical devices and to development new biomaterials. The innovation and development in this research area are growing quickly because of the state-of-the-art techniques like nanobiotechnology, biosensors, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and 3D (bio)printing. These techniques can mimic the biomacromolecules, peptide sequences, morphology, chemical and physical structures more precisely than other currently available methods. The importance of hydrogels and its composites as examples among many other biomaterials are increasing vastly because of their recent advancements in its biological, chemical and physical cues which are biomimetic to native tissues. Furthermore, an enhancement in the 3D bioprinting technology where live cells are printed along with biomaterials demonstrates the capabilities of this technology to innovate novel tissue engineering products in micro- to macro-technology. The recent trends of development and intellectual properties related to biomimetic medical materials along with their perspectives and area of scope are discussed by focusing on 3D bioprinting in this chapter.