Biodegradable, Biocompatible Conductor for Resorbable Medical Implants

Advances in biodegradable materials have allowed the development of a variety of resorbable medical devices that do no need to be removed at the end of their service because they degrade within the body into not toxic by-products. However, devices that contain electronic components are still nearly all non-degradable because of the lack of biodegradable conducting and semiconducting materials. The Department of Defense is interested in expanding the concept of resorbable medical devices to those that contain electronic components. In this Phase I SBIR project TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) will develop an ink-jet printable biodegradable conductor and carry out the proof-of-concept experiment that shows that it can be used to fabricate an inductively-powered resorbable device for the thermal treatment of surgical site infections.