Cardiovascular applications biodegradability

Hydrogels of CNCs have many desirable properties, including low cost, nontoxicity, hydrophilicity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability, all of which contribute to their potential applications in bioengineering and biomedicine. For example, CNC dispersed in a solution of cellulose, sodium hydroxide, and urea formed a gel that steadily released bovine semm albumin into a simulated body fluid [161]. Nanocomposites of CNC and poly(vinyl alcohol), a hydrophilic biocompatible polymer, exhibited a broad range of mechanical properties that could be tuned to mimic those of cardiovascular tissues and, therefore, have potential applications as cardiovascular implants [162]. 

Biostability has been and continues to be a main research focus of PUs. Depending on the intended medical applications, the desired biostability of PUs varies. For example, PUs used as pacemaker lead covering should have superior long-term stability, whereas PUs used as a scaffold to build engineered tissue construct for replacement of diseased cardiovascular tissues should be biodegradable. The challenge to maintain long-term in vivo biostability... 

---