Biomedical Polymers

This volume fully provides a unique update by a team of technical authorities in the fast growing area of designer polymers, featuring predictable half-lives in the biological environment, as biomedical devices or drug carriers. Striking examples of these polymers in useful forms include the 'vanishing' surgical sutures or staples for wound repair without the need for their removal as the augmented tissues regain their normal properties. Among other applications which are being explored are the development of novel delivery systems for controlled release in the stomach, synthetic grafts for replacements of blood vessels, laboratory-grown viable plugs as substitutes for parts of vital organs (e.g., liver, cartilage, and bones), and artificial tendons and ligaments. This book will be most useful to polymer scientists and plastics engineers actively involved in new polymer materials R&D for biomedical applications and evaluation of novel implants and drug carriers for new and existing applications. It provides research-orientated surgeons and clinicians with a broad range of an up-to-date information on the most important types of biologically transient materials. Educators in the areas of polymeric materials, physical sciences and biology will find this a must-to-read book.