The adoption of grammatical modifier for im- plants or other kinds of biomaterials eventually absorbed by the body has been a long-standing confusing issue, and there are diverse terms in the large fields of research,...The adoption of grammatical modifier for im- plants or other kinds of biomaterials eventually absorbed by the body has been a long-standing confusing issue, and there are diverse terms in the large fields of research, which not only causes the difficulties when searching on the Internet, but also blurs the meaning and boundaries for researchers. Prior unification attempts at laws/standards set the basis for such research fields towards researching, labeling, marketing and instructions for use. Considering this, the typical gram- matical modifiers "biodegradable", "resorbable" "absorbable", along with their noun forms used in the decades of scien- tific research have been reviewed and explained, interdiscipli- nary in chemistry, ecology, materials science, biology, micro- biology, medicine, and based on usage customs, laws, stan- dards and markets. The term "biodegradable" has been not only used in biomaterials but also in ecology waste manage- ment, biomedicine and even natural environment. Mean- while, the term "resorbable" has long been used in biological reaction (osteoclast driven bone resorption), but is inappro- priate for implants that do not carry the potential to grow back into their original form. The term "absorbable" focuses more on the host metabolism to the foreign biodegradation products of the implanted material/device compared with the term "degradable/biodegradable". Meanwhile the coherence and normalization of the term "absorbable" carried by its own in laws and standards contributes as well. In general, the au- thors consider the term "absorbable" to be the best grammat- ical modifier with respect to other adjectives which share the same inherence. A further internationally unified usage is proposed by us.展开更多
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC1102402)National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, 51431002)the NSFC and the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme (51361165101 and 5161101031)
文摘The adoption of grammatical modifier for im- plants or other kinds of biomaterials eventually absorbed by the body has been a long-standing confusing issue, and there are diverse terms in the large fields of research, which not only causes the difficulties when searching on the Internet, but also blurs the meaning and boundaries for researchers. Prior unification attempts at laws/standards set the basis for such research fields towards researching, labeling, marketing and instructions for use. Considering this, the typical gram- matical modifiers "biodegradable", "resorbable" "absorbable", along with their noun forms used in the decades of scien- tific research have been reviewed and explained, interdiscipli- nary in chemistry, ecology, materials science, biology, micro- biology, medicine, and based on usage customs, laws, stan- dards and markets. The term "biodegradable" has been not only used in biomaterials but also in ecology waste manage- ment, biomedicine and even natural environment. Mean- while, the term "resorbable" has long been used in biological reaction (osteoclast driven bone resorption), but is inappro- priate for implants that do not carry the potential to grow back into their original form. The term "absorbable" focuses more on the host metabolism to the foreign biodegradation products of the implanted material/device compared with the term "degradable/biodegradable". Meanwhile the coherence and normalization of the term "absorbable" carried by its own in laws and standards contributes as well. In general, the au- thors consider the term "absorbable" to be the best grammat- ical modifier with respect to other adjectives which share the same inherence. A further internationally unified usage is proposed by us.