Cellulose technologies applied to biomedical purposes from the patentometric point of view.

Abstract

This study focused on investigating the technological context of cellulose and its derivatives and their applications to the biomedical area. Therefore, patentometric analysis of patent documents was conducted. A scenario containing information related to the most prominent players in the biomedical area and the places with high relevance for biomedical cellulose technologies and its markets of interest was built. This study used several tools of patentometry to forecast when the use of commercial cellulose or cellulose derivatives might be replaced by the newly created ones. The analysis of technological maturity showed that, in a few years, the market will be saturated with biomedical products that use cellulose as one of its raw materials, and the known molecules will be replaced by recently invented materials based on chemically modified cellulose. This study of patentometry related to technological specialization identified cellulose technologies applied to the treatment of eye or ocular diseases. The newest and most cited patents indicated the preference of companies to use commercial cellulose derivatives to formulate their biomedical products instead of creating new cellulose derivatives to be applied to their compositions. This methodology can help researchers and decision-makers choose the best way to undertake a project involving the technological applications of cellulose to medicine.