Bioresorbable polymers types

The growth in polymer-made biomedical devices has in part been made possible thanks to the discovery of a new class of materials bioresorbable polymers. The term bioresorbable has become a common expression, used in order to qualify this type of macromolecules. A scientifically accepted definition for such materials is the following a material for which the degradation is mediated, at least partly, from a biological system (Ottenbiight and Scott, 1992). This statement shows one of the most important features of these materials. Devices made of bioresorbable polymers are subjected to degradation in the human body which means they do not need to be removed. 

In the field of biomedical devices, bioresorbable polymers can be used for several purposes. Suture threads represent an established example of a bioabsorbable device. They were introduced for the first time during the early 1970s. They were first made of poly(glycolic acid). Threads made of poly (lactic acid) and polydioxanone appeared later in 1981. Currently there is a wide variety of types of commercial suture thread (monofilament or polyfilament) depending on requirements such as degradation time and mechanical behavior. 

Jenkins M, Stamboulis A. Durability and reliability of medical polymers. 2012 [Chapter 1] Types of bioresorbable polymers for medical application. 

Bioresorbable water soluble polyamide-type polymers have been synthesised from citric acid and L-lysine. 

Next, general design concepts are discussed to provide cell signaling and scaffold bioactivity via types of polymers with recognized biocompatibility, bioresorbability, mechanical properties structural architecture of the scaffold mass transport and incorporation of biochemical and biophysical cues through siuface target chemistry and topography (Sections 16.4.1 and 16.4.2). 

Moreover, depending on the mechanism of degradation, polymeric biomaterials can be classified into bioresorbable and bioerodable. Polymer erosion can be of two types, bulk erosion and surface erosion. In ideal bulk erosion (also termed... 

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