Biosynthetic Polymers for Medical Applications

• List of contributors
• Woodhead Publishing Series in Biomaterials
• Part One. Introduction and fundamentals
  • 1. Introduction to biomedical polymers and biocompatibility
    • 1.1. Introduction
    • 1.2. Natural or biological polymers
    • 1.3. Advantages and disadvantages of natural polymers
    • 1.4. Biosynthetic polymers
    • 1.5. Conclusion
  • 2. Nondegradable synthetic polymers for medical devices and implants
    • 2.1. Introduction
    • 2.2. Ultra-high molecular weight poly(ethylene) (UHMWPE)
    • 2.3. Polypropylene (PP)
    • 2.4. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)
    • 2.5. Polyurethane (PU)
    • 2.6. Poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS)
    • 2.7. Polyether ether ketone (PEEK)
    • 2.8. Future directions
  • 3. Biodegradable and bioerodible polymers for medical applications
    • 3.1. Introduction
    • 3.2. Concepts and terminology
    • 3.3. Motivating factors for using polymer–drug conjugates
    • 3.4. Current and future trends
• Part Two. Coatings and surface modifications
  • 4. Bio-inspired antimicrobial polymers
    • 4.1. Introduction
    • 4.2. Naturally occurring AMPs
    • 4.3. Synthetic polymer mimics of AMPs
    • 4.4. Chitosan – a natural antimicrobial polysaccharide
    • 4.5. Neutral polymer brush layers for reducing bacterial attachment
  • 5. Plasma-based surface modification for the control of biointerfacial interactions
    • 5.1. Introduction
    • 5.2. Plasma treatment of material surfaces
    • 5.3. Plasma polymer-based coatings
    • 5.4. Plasma polymer-based interlayers
    • 5.5. Plasma polymer-based patterning
    • 5.6. Functional plasma polymers
    • 5.7. Antimicrobial plasma polymer coatings
    • 5.8. Likely future trends
    • 5.9. Sources of further information
  • 6. Stent coatings for blood compatibility
    • 6.1. Introduction
    • 6.2. Stent development
    • 6.3. Thrombosis issue
    • 6.4. Drug-eluting stent coatings
    • 6.5. Conclusions
• Part Three. Biosynthetic hydrogels
  • 7. Degradable hydrogel systems for biomedical applications
    • 7.1. Introduction
    • 7.2. Hydrogel precursors
    • 7.3. Desired hydrogel properties
    • 7.4. Degradable hydrogel systems
    • 7.5. Where to? – degradable hydrogels
  • 8. Angiogenesis in hydrogel biomaterials
    • 8.1. Introduction
    • 8.2. Biology of angiogenesis
    • 8.3. Protein hydrogels to support angiogenic activity
    • 8.4. Synthetic hydrogels to support angiogenic activity
    • 8.5. In vitro culture of vascular networks
    • 8.6. Inducing angiogenesis in host tissue
    • 8.7. Conclusions
  • 9. Engineering biosynthetic cell encapsulation systems
    • 9.1. Introduction
    • 9.2. Natural polymers
    • 9.3. Synthetic polymers
    • 9.4. Biosynthetic polymers
    • 9.5. Future trends
• Part Four. Conjugated conducting polymers
  • 10. Conducting polymers and their biomedical applications
    • 10.1. Introduction
    • 10.2. Conducting mechanism
    • 10.3. Electrochemical polymerisation of conducting polymers
    • 10.4. Applications of conducting polymers in biomedical fields
    • 10.5. Conclusions
  • 11. Biosynthetic conductive polymer composites for tissue-engineering biomedical devices
    • 11.1. Introduction
    • 11.2. Conductive polymer composites
    • 11.3. Biological components in CP composites
    • 11.4. In vivo application of CP composites
    • 11.5. Summary and future directions
  • 12. Degradable conjugated conducting polymers and nerve guidance
    • 12.1. Introduction
    • 12.2. Material challenges in neural engineering
    • 12.3. Processing of conducting polymers for the generation of 3D scaffolds
    • 12.4. Biodegradable conducting polymers
    • 12.5. Biomolecular and topographical guidance
    • 12.6. Biological performance of CPs for neural regeneration
    • 12.7. Future trends and remaining challenges
    • 12.8. Sources for further information
    • Abbreviations
• Index

Biosynthetic Polymers for Medical Applications provides the latest information on biopolymers, the polymers that have been produced from living organisms and are biodegradable in nature. These advanced materials are becoming increasingly important for medical applications due to their favorable properties, such as degradability and biocompatibility.

This important book provides readers with a thorough review of the fundamentals of biosynthetic polymers and their applications. Part One covers the fundamentals of biosynthetic polymers for medical applications, while Part Two explores biosynthetic polymer coatings and surface modification. Subsequent sections discuss biosynthetic polymers for tissue engineering applications and how to conduct polymers for medical applications.

• Comprehensively covers all major medical applications of biosynthetic polymers
• Provides an overview of non-degradable and biodegradable biosynthetic polymers and their medical uses
• Presents a specific focus on coatings and surface modifications, biosynthetic hydrogels, particulate systems for gene and drug delivery, and conjugated conducting polymers

Biomaterials and chemical scientists in R&D and academia; in addition to polymer scientists, it should appeal to researchers concerned with tissue engineering, drug delivery and conducting materials