Commercial Biomaterial-Based Products for Tendon Surgical Augmentation: A Scoping Review on Currently Available Medical Devices

Tendon defect is one of the common clinical diseases related to the growing population mean age and the number of athletes. Due to an increasing demand for tendon repair surgical interventions, several tendon augmentation products, capable of guaranteeing the necessary biological and visco-elasticit...

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Main Authors: Marta Pluchino, Leonardo Vivarelli, Gianluca Giavaresi, Dante Dallari, Marco Govoni
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Journal of Functional Biomaterials
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4983/16/4/130
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author Marta Pluchino
Leonardo Vivarelli
Gianluca Giavaresi
Dante Dallari
Marco Govoni
author_facet Marta Pluchino
Leonardo Vivarelli
Gianluca Giavaresi
Dante Dallari
Marco Govoni
author_sort Marta Pluchino
collection DOAJ
description Tendon defect is one of the common clinical diseases related to the growing population mean age and the number of athletes. Due to an increasing demand for tendon repair surgical interventions, several tendon augmentation products, capable of guaranteeing the necessary biological and visco-elasticity properties and mechanical support, have been developed. In this regard, commercially available products may be grouped into three main categories: (i) natural, (ii) synthetic, and (iii) hybrid biomaterial-based products. Firstly, to better define the research area of this work, common search engines were employed to acquire information from reports or website portfolios of important competitors in the global tendon repair market. Secondly, public registries and bibliographic databases were also employed to analyse data from registered clinical trials and published clinical studies performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of each product. Ten new products have been launched on the market in the last fifteen years: advantages, disadvantages, and future perspectives regarding their use for tendon augmentation treatment are discussed. Although hybrid biomaterial-based products may be considered as more oriented to the new frontiers of tendon augmentation technology, future improvements, especially focused on both mechanical properties and biocompatibility, are needed. However, scientific innovations must navigate convoluted clinical regulatory paths, which, due to high costs for investors, long development timelines, and funding shortages, hinder the translation of many scientific discoveries into routine clinical practice.
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spelling doaj-art-2d766a6e526d42bb9ff173d43862303a2025-08-20T02:28:23ZengMDPI AGJournal of Functional Biomaterials2079-49832025-04-0116413010.3390/jfb16040130Commercial Biomaterial-Based Products for Tendon Surgical Augmentation: A Scoping Review on Currently Available Medical DevicesMarta Pluchino0Leonardo Vivarelli1Gianluca Giavaresi2Dante Dallari3Marco Govoni4Reconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery and Innovative Techniques—Musculoskeletal Tissue Bank, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, ItalyReconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery and Innovative Techniques—Musculoskeletal Tissue Bank, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, ItalySurgical Science and Technologies, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, ItalyReconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery and Innovative Techniques—Musculoskeletal Tissue Bank, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, ItalyReconstructive Orthopaedic Surgery and Innovative Techniques—Musculoskeletal Tissue Bank, IRCCS Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, 40136 Bologna, ItalyTendon defect is one of the common clinical diseases related to the growing population mean age and the number of athletes. Due to an increasing demand for tendon repair surgical interventions, several tendon augmentation products, capable of guaranteeing the necessary biological and visco-elasticity properties and mechanical support, have been developed. In this regard, commercially available products may be grouped into three main categories: (i) natural, (ii) synthetic, and (iii) hybrid biomaterial-based products. Firstly, to better define the research area of this work, common search engines were employed to acquire information from reports or website portfolios of important competitors in the global tendon repair market. Secondly, public registries and bibliographic databases were also employed to analyse data from registered clinical trials and published clinical studies performed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of each product. Ten new products have been launched on the market in the last fifteen years: advantages, disadvantages, and future perspectives regarding their use for tendon augmentation treatment are discussed. Although hybrid biomaterial-based products may be considered as more oriented to the new frontiers of tendon augmentation technology, future improvements, especially focused on both mechanical properties and biocompatibility, are needed. However, scientific innovations must navigate convoluted clinical regulatory paths, which, due to high costs for investors, long development timelines, and funding shortages, hinder the translation of many scientific discoveries into routine clinical practice.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4983/16/4/130tendon repairtendon augmentationmedical devicesnatural biomaterialssynthetic biomaterialshybrid biomaterials
spellingShingle Marta Pluchino
Leonardo Vivarelli
Gianluca Giavaresi
Dante Dallari
Marco Govoni
Commercial Biomaterial-Based Products for Tendon Surgical Augmentation: A Scoping Review on Currently Available Medical Devices
Journal of Functional Biomaterials
tendon repair
tendon augmentation
medical devices
natural biomaterials
synthetic biomaterials
hybrid biomaterials
title Commercial Biomaterial-Based Products for Tendon Surgical Augmentation: A Scoping Review on Currently Available Medical Devices
title_full Commercial Biomaterial-Based Products for Tendon Surgical Augmentation: A Scoping Review on Currently Available Medical Devices
title_fullStr Commercial Biomaterial-Based Products for Tendon Surgical Augmentation: A Scoping Review on Currently Available Medical Devices
title_full_unstemmed Commercial Biomaterial-Based Products for Tendon Surgical Augmentation: A Scoping Review on Currently Available Medical Devices
title_short Commercial Biomaterial-Based Products for Tendon Surgical Augmentation: A Scoping Review on Currently Available Medical Devices
title_sort commercial biomaterial based products for tendon surgical augmentation a scoping review on currently available medical devices
topic tendon repair
tendon augmentation
medical devices
natural biomaterials
synthetic biomaterials
hybrid biomaterials
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4983/16/4/130
work_keys_str_mv AT martapluchino commercialbiomaterialbasedproductsfortendonsurgicalaugmentationascopingreviewoncurrentlyavailablemedicaldevices
AT leonardovivarelli commercialbiomaterialbasedproductsfortendonsurgicalaugmentationascopingreviewoncurrentlyavailablemedicaldevices
AT gianlucagiavaresi commercialbiomaterialbasedproductsfortendonsurgicalaugmentationascopingreviewoncurrentlyavailablemedicaldevices
AT dantedallari commercialbiomaterialbasedproductsfortendonsurgicalaugmentationascopingreviewoncurrentlyavailablemedicaldevices
AT marcogovoni commercialbiomaterialbasedproductsfortendonsurgicalaugmentationascopingreviewoncurrentlyavailablemedicaldevices