Biomedical polymers artificial organs

As we shall see in Chapter 15, polyurethane is a polymer of choice for a wide variety of biomedical applications. Polyurethane is used extensively in the construction of devices such as vascular prostheses, membranes, catheters, plastic surgery, heart valves, and artificial organs. Polyurethanes are also used in drug delivery systems such as the sustained and controlled delivery of pharmaceutical agents, for example, caffeine and prostaglandin. ... 

Polymers are the most versatile class of biomaterials, being extensively used in biomedical applications such as contact lenses, pharmaceutical vehicles, implantation, artificial organs, tissue engineering, medical devices, prostheses, and dental materials [1-3]. This is all due to the unique properties of polymers that created an entirely new concept when originally proposed as biomaterials. For the first time, a material performing a structural application was designed to be completely resorbed and become weaker over time. This concept was applied for the... 

Chapter 5 by Ishihara and Fukazawa focuses on polymers obtained from 2-methacryloylo>yethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) monomer. Indeed, the molecular design of MPC polymers with significant functions for biomedical and medical applications is summarized in detail. It is especially shown that some MPC polymers can provide artificial cell membrane-like structures at the surface as excellent interfaces between artificial systems and biological systems. In the clinical medicine field, MPC polymers have been used for surface modification of medical devices, including long-term implantable artificial organs to improve biocompatibilily. Thus some MPC polymers have been provided commercially for these applications. 

Polyphosphazenes may provide particular advantages over their organic counterparts in the field of biomedical applications. For artificial organ research, materials can be synthesized that have specific surface properties, extreme stability under hydrolytic or oxidative conditions, and minimal interactions with blood or living tissues. Polymers that possess fluoroalkoxy or aryloxy side groups... 

Another challenge in the biomedical materials area is the search for synthetic materials with Improved blood compatibility for artificial heart devices and other organs. An early study by Wade (24) using a series of poly(organophosphazenes) showed these polymers in the unfilled state are as blocompatlble as silicon materials. More recent blood compatibility studies using radiation crossllnked PNF showed excellent hemo compatibility... 

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