Bone replacement / engineering

Important application of TPEEs is in medical devices owing to their compatibility with hurrian blood and tissue, as well as inherent resistance to radiation used for sterilization. For example, biodegradable TPEEs based on PBT and PEO under trade name Poly Active could be used in tissue engineering scaffold, bone replacement, wound dressing, artificial skin and as drug release carrier, due to mechanical properties similar to native cartilage [102]. 

Bancroft, G.N. and Mikos, A.G. Bone tissue engineering by cell transplantation, in Polymer Based Systemson Tissue Engineering Replacement and Regeneration,Reis,R.L. andCohn,D. (Eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 2002, p. 251. 

Biodegradable starch-based polymers have recently been proposed as having great potential for several applications in the biomedical field, such as bone replacement implants, bone cements, drug delivery systems, and tissue engineering scaffolds [273], The development of new processing techniques and the reinforcement with various (nano)fillers has resulted in materials with mechanical properties matching those of bone [274],... 

The biocompatibility of two different blends of corn-starch, SEVA and starch/cellulose acetate (SCA), and their respective composites with HAp, were studied by Marques et al. [274]. Researchers found that both types of starch-based polymers exhibit a cytocompatibility that might allow for their use as biomaterials Eurthermore SEVA blends were found to be less cytotoxic for the tested cell line, although cells adhere better to SCA surface. Considering the overall behaviour of SEVA, SCA and their composites with HAp, it can be expected that their cytocompatibility will allow for their use in the future in applications such as bone replacement/fixation and/or tissue engineering scaffolding. 

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