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Review
. 2018 Sep 24:12:3117-3145.
doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S165440. eCollection 2018.

Current development of biodegradable polymeric materials for biomedical applications

Richard Song  1 , Maxwell Murphy  1 , Chenshuang Li  1 , Kang Ting  1   2   3 , Chia Soo  2 , Zhong Zheng  1
Affiliations
Review

Current development of biodegradable polymeric materials for biomedical applications

Richard Song et al. Drug Des Devel Ther. .

Abstract

In the last half-century, the development of biodegradable polymeric materials for biomedical applications has advanced significantly. Biodegradable polymeric materials are favored in the development of therapeutic devices, including temporary implants and three-dimensional scaffolds for tissue engineering. Further advancements have occurred in the utilization of biodegradable polymeric materials for pharmacological applications such as delivery vehicles for controlled/sustained drug release. These applications require particular physicochemical, biological, and degradation properties of the materials to deliver effective therapy. As a result, a wide range of natural or synthetic polymers able to undergo hydrolytic or enzymatic degradation is being studied for biomedical applications. This review outlines the current development of biodegradable natural and synthetic polymeric materials for various biomedical applications, including tissue engineering, temporary implants, wound healing, and drug delivery.

Keywords: drug delivery; natural biomaterials; synthetic biomaterials; tissue engineering; wound healing.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure of hyaluronic acid (HA).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Structure of chitin and chitosan.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Structure of poly-(R)-hydroxybutyrate (polyhydroxyalkanoate, PHA).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Structure of poly(glycolic acid) (PGA).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Structure of poly(lactic acid) isomers (l-PLA, d-PLA, d,l-PLA).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Structure of poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). X=number of units of lactic acid and Y=number of units of glycolic acid.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Structure of poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Structure of polyanhydride.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Structure of polyphosphazene.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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