Implants made from bioresorbable polymers are gaining significant interest in orthopaedic, sports-injury and cardiovascular markets. The advantage of such materials over permanent metallic implants is that they provide temporary support during healing, then gradually degrade, transferring mechanical loads to regenerating tissue. They are also utilised in drug and bioactive release systems owing to the ability to tailor their bioresorption rate via appropriate polymer selection and post-processing procedures.

Furthermore, they have potential for application in patient-specific tissue scaffolds produced by layer-by-layer manufacturing techniques such as fused deposition modelling.