Smart Biomaterials Kaptiel 2

Abstract

Smart polymers are able to respond to changes in their environment. Shapememory polymers are an example for stimuli-responsive materials, which can change their shape on demand. Such Polymers are of interest for a variety of application areas including biotechnology and medicine. Only a few polymeric biomaterials are established in clinical applications to date and most of these biomaterials have not primarily been developed for biomedical applications. Many implants have initially been developed to fulfill a structural/mechanical function. Examples for this category of medical devices are surgical sutures, hip prostheses or hernia meshes. The predictability of the long-term behavior of biomaterials in physiological environments became apparent as a major challenge. In this context, experimental as well as computational tools are being developed to evaluate the mechanisms of polymer degradation. With increasing clinical experience it became furthermore apparent that one single function is not sufficient, but multifunctionality is required. Vascular stents, which initially were purely metallic devices with a specific structural function, have been further developed by adding polymeric coatings to improve their hemocompatibility, which were partially loaded with drugs to avoid restenosis. Presently, degradable stents are under development. In this presentation, the scientific challenges of combining several functions in one material are described and examples for dual and triple functional polymers are given. Finally, the potential application of theses biomaterials in regenerative medicine is outlined. Potential applications include smart implants or drug release systems inducing endogenous regeneration and scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.