Biodegradation of Aliphatic Polyesters

Abstract

Synthetic polymers appeared about sixty years ago and immediately medical people realized that this new class of materials was of interest for therapeutic applications. For example, isotonic aqueous solutions of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) were used as plasma expander during World War II and although this compound was far from ideal, it stayed in use for years before substitutes appeared [1]. Since then, many polymers have been evaluated as candidate biomaterials [2]. However, only a number of them have reached the stage of clinical applications and commercial availability.