Biomedical Textiles Market - Forecasts from 2024 to 2029

The global biomedical textiles market will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.5% during the forecast period of 2024 to 2029.

The global biomedical textiles market is driven by several core factors, including increasing cardiovascular diseases, orthopedics, spinal, and other disorders. According to the United Nations, the global population aged 65 and above is expected to rise from 10% in 2022 to 16% in 2050. The older population will surpass the number of children under age 5 by 2050. This is creating serious health-related issues for a large section of the population related to orthopedics, cardiovascular, etc., and causing the need for innovative health products like biomedical textiles. The biomedical textiles market sector is highly research-based and provides opportunities for academic research laboratories and health startups to collaborate and develop new products.

• There has been a push for inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches, in using textiles for patches, compatible polymer-based medical implants, and PPE with enhanced functionalities. Further domains for research and application are electrospun nanofibers, 3D printing, polymers, antibacterial coatings, etc.
• The sector has opportunities for research through the industries for textiles and allied fields in R&D, product development, and working with regulatory bodies. This sector has multiple domains for application according to customizable needs.

BIOMEDICAL TEXTILES MARKET DRIVERS:

Growing cases of cardiovascular diseases:

Cardiovascular diseases are rising worldwide owing to the changing lifestyles. Behavioral risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle, physical inactivity, and overuse of alcohol are giving thrust to the risk factors. This causes raised blood pressure, blood glucose, blood lipids, and overweight. The risk of cardiovascular diseases has been increasing due to these factors. In the United States, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one person dies every 33 seconds from cardiovascular disease.

These figures indicate the increasing cases of heart diagnoses. People are becoming concerned about their heart health and overall lifestyle challenges. The growing number of heart diseases is causing an increasing number of heart surgeries. Innovative solutions have been applied to the limitless performance possibilities.

Earlier, biomedical textiles were limited to vascular grafts and heart valve sewing cuffs for traditional aortic valve repair. But now, heart valve fabric solutions are used in multiple applications. The complex application of biomedical textiles can be used for the healing and regeneration of damaged cardiovascular tissue. It can generate aortic arch reinforcement, stent graft covering, carotid artery repair fabric, and biocompatible heart valve fabric, among others.

Confluent medical technologies are developing and manufacturing implantable textiles for various applications, including cardiovascular. The company makes aortic and mitral transcatheter valve skirts, atrial appendage occlusion device coverts, or endovascular stent grafts. It also produces sutureless attachments of textiles to a device frame which eliminates the need for sewing and manual assemblies.

Growing application in orthopedics:

The advancement in orthobiologics provides synthetic biomaterials for the required mechanical and biological benefits. This can be applied for bone grafting and fusion, motion preservation in the spine, tissue fixation, cartilage, tendon, ligament, and meniscal repair. In the orthopedic, there has been a shift in the age demographics toward more younger patients.

These people are more physically active, causing soft-tissue injuries, including damage to the ligaments and tendons. All these injuries are associated with sports, gym, adventure like trekking, cycling, etc. Physical activity-related injuries are becoming very common among these populations, thus leading to surgeries. The trend is moving towards avoiding large-scale surgeries, earlier intervention, and less invasive devices.

Key benefits of textiles in orthopedics can be attributed to key features like less invasiveness, shape transformation, high tensile strength, stable structure, biocompatibility, flexibility, porosity, and features like entering through a small hole and then expanding in the body, among others. The geometry of several biomedical structures can be customized to affect porosity and tissue integration or act as a tissue barrier. These structures have applications due to their inherently compressible and shape-transformable properties. The application can be in sports med sutures and assemblies, joint and ligament fixation and reconstruction devices, and spinal fixation tethers.

BIOMEDICAL TEXTILES MARKET - GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLOOK

Asia Pacific region to dominate the biomedical textiles market during the forecast period.

The major economies like China, Japan, India, and South Korea dominate the Asia-Pacific region. Some of the fastest-growing emerging economies are from this region, such as ASEAN countries. The Indian Healthcare industry continued to show robust growth and expansion, reaching a value of US$372 billion both in the private sector and the government.

This sector has been the largest employer in the country, with 7.5 million as of 2024. India’s public expenditure on healthcare touched 2.1 % of GDP in FY23 and 2.2% in FY22, a rise from 1.6% in FY21. The country's medical tourism market is valued at US$7.69 billion in 2024. These increased numbers significantly indicate the growing application of medical devices and development of the innovative products.

Additionally, China is the world’s second-largest healthcare market, making medical devices an important healthcare sales. According to the Official Website of the International Trade Administration, the medical device market in China is expected to expand at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.3%, making it US$48.8 billion by 2026. The biomedical textiles being used in the multipurpose applications of cardiovascular, orthopedic, and tissue engineering would likely rise in demand.

Biomedical Textiles Market Restraints:

• Biomedical textiles are difficult to source and manufacture, this keeps the companies that are specialized in this segment better situated. The complexity of manufacturing and designing could be an added advantage for the well-established companies in this segment.
• This is a challenge for new companies, which must compete on price. The high research and development required is limiting the fast market growth.

Biomedical textiles market Key Developments:

• In January 2024, Cortland Biomedical expanded its weaving capabilities by incorporating two additional jacquard looms.  It enhances the capabilities and capacity to design and develop woven biomedical textile structures. This strategic move will give new avenues for advancements in medical textiles. Cortland Biomedical ensures excellence in contact surfaces to yarn tensioning systems. Plain and narrow weave fabrics, including shuttle and rapier weaving, could help create three-dimensional structures for applications like vascular grafts.  Cortland Biomedical designs, customizes, and manufactures high-performance biomedical textile structures with years of experience in medical textile engineering, including knitting, braiding, and weaving.
• In March 2023, Riverpoint announced the expansion of biological offerings with the exclusive license of DSM biomedicals. Riverpoint Medical now has the exclusive licensed proprietary osteoconductive (OC) coating technology from DSM Biomedical. Osteoconduction is when bone grows on a surface and replaces it with new bone over time. The company made a product that can improve the environment for enhanced bone attachment. Osteoconductive coatings are used in orthopedic and dental implants and now in implantable textiles. This is a breakthrough in the orthopedic space where an osteoconductive scaffold is at the point of repair. The proprietary OC coating technology by Riverpoint Medical and DSM Biomedical improved implantable textiles for both surgeons and patients.
• In October 2022, Cortland Biomedical announced textile structures incorporating radiopaque fibers. It can now process radiopaque fibers. By putting radiopaque fibers into diagnostic, it can allow devices to be visible under fluoroscopy, with their mechanical properties for the application. This will allow surgeons to position the device. Visibility can be seen through fluoroscopy months or years after surgical placement. The company's extensive range of knitting, weaving, and braiding capabilities enables it to make complex and customized textile structures with specific mechanical properties. Radiopaque fibers are currently available in PET and UHMWPE.

The biomedical textiles market is segmented and analyzed as follows:

By Fiber Type

• Non-biodegradable Fiber
• Biodegradable Fiber

By Fabric Type

• Braided
• Woven Materials
• Non-Woven Materials
• Others

By Application

• Cardiovascular
• Endovascular
• Orthopedics
• Neurovascular
• Suture
• Others

By Geography

• North America
• South America
• Europe
• Middle East and Africa
• Asia-Pacific