Supercritical carbon dioxide and biomedicine: Opening the doors towards biocompatibility

Supercritical CO2 techniques are promising technologies for developing products that can be useful for biomedical engineering. However, the obtained products (aerogels, foams, membranes, fibers, liposomes, particles, impregnated polymers) with these processes are not widely used in hospitals or surgical procedures. This article assesses the current status of these techniques by reviewing the results obtained from different biological and mechanical preliminary tests on obtained products. This study finds that in vitro and in vivo tests of current formulations and materials are appropriate in terms of their biological response for future use. Still, there is a lack of knowledge concerning their behavior under real physiological conditions and some problems regarding their economic competitiveness versus conventional techniques. Mechanical studies are also needed for aerogels, foams and membranes and impregnated materials depending on the final application, since their use is limited by these properties. In this context, how these materials will behave in more realistic situations and if the biological response can be stimulated, as occurs under physiological conditions, have to be studied.