Polymeric biomaterials based on polylactide, chitosan and hydrogels in medicine

Abstract

Polymeric biomaterials represent large and very adaptable class of biomaterials, which makes them very suitable for diversity of biomedical applications. Polymers can be synthesized to have a variety of structures and suitable chemical, physical, biomimetic and surface properties. An overabundance of polymeric biomaterials with different compositions and physicochemical properties have already been developed and investigated; however, there are still many active studies about these materials. This chapter ensures a structural review of biodegradable polymers and discusses their physicochemical characteristics, structure property, applications and limitations in medicine. It is the authors' intent to provide an insight over the available synthetic and natural polymer classes. Some types of polymer materials are less discussed than the other more relevant. A biocompatible, degradable polymer, polylactic acid is very popular so called green 'eco-friendly' material with a most promising development prospect. Besides biocompatibility and biodegradability, natural polymer, chitosan, possess outstanding properties. Hydrogels are super absorbent polymeric materials with one of the main role in health care. For these biopolymers, reviews are referenced to present guidance for further reading.