Table of Contents
Preface v
Contributors xi
1 Biodegradation and biodegradable polymers Gavin Burke Elaine Kenny Maurice Dalton Declan M. Devine Eilish Hoctor lan Major Luke Geever 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Natural biodegradable polymers 4
1.3 Synthetic biodegradable polymers 5
1.4 Polylactic acid 7
1.5 Polycaprolactone 9
1.6 Polyglycolic acid 11
1.7 Polydioxanone 12
1.8 Polyhydroxyalkanoates 13
1.9 Summary 13
Bibliography 13
2 Biodegradable medical implants Yuanyuan Chen Marcelo Jorge Cavalcanti De Sá Maurice Dalton Declan M. Devine 17
2.1 Introduction 17
2.2 Biodegradable sutures 18
2.3 Bone-fixation devices 20
2.4 Fully biodegradable stents 24
2.5 Biodegradable anti-adhesive tissue barriers 29
2.6 Tissue engineering 31
2.6.1 Bone tissue engineering 32
2.6.2 Repair of peripheral nerves 35
2.7 Summary 39
References 39
3 Controlted release of poorly soluble active ingredients from bioresorbable polymers Gabriel Goetten de Lima Shane Halligan Luke Geever Maurice Dalton Chris McConville Michael J.D. Nugent 47
3.1 Introduction 47
3.2 Poorly water-soluble drugs 48
3.3 Mechanisms of drug release from biodegradable polymers 50
3.4 Polymers for controlled release of poorly water-soluble drugs 52
3.4.1 Controlled release from water-soluble/bioresorbable hydrogels 52
3.4.2 Controlled release from polymeric micelles 53
3.5 Recent strategies for poorly water-soluble drugs 55
3.5.1 Hydrogels/polymeric micelles 55
3.5.2 Nanocomposite hydrogels 57
3.6 Stimuli-responsive hydrogels 58
3.6.1 Hydrogels that are responsive to temperature 59
3.6.2 Hydrogels that are responsive to pH 61
3.6.3 Combining pH and temperature-responsive hydrogels 62
3.7 Applications of stimuli-responsive hydrogels 62
3.7.1 Injectable hydrogels in drug delivery 63
3.8 Summary 64
References 64
4 Potential for biodegradable polymer-based nanotechnology in drug delivery Martin Forde Ian Major 69
4.1 Introduction 69
4.2 The bio-nano interface 70
4.3 Size and shape matter 71
4.3.1 Polymeric nanoparticles 71
4.4 Silver nanoparticles conjugated with polymers 72
4.4.1 Silver nanoparticles for gene technology 73
4.4.2 Silver nanoparticles for rheumatoid arthritis 73
4.5 Gold nanoparticles conjugated with polymers 74
4.6 Platinum nanoparticles conjugated with polymers 75
4.7 Other polymer non-metal nanoparticles for smart drug delivery 77
4.8 Biomedical implants 78
4.8.1 Neuronal implants 79
4.8.2 Cochlear and neural implants 80
4.9 Toxicity of nanoparticles - a major concern 80
4.10 Summary 82
References 83
5 Processing of biodegradable polymers Ian Major Elaine Kenny Andrew Healy Luke Geever Declan M. Devine John Lyons 87
5.1 Introduction 87
5.2 Hot-melt extrusion 87
5.3 Injection moulding 89
5.4 Fused deposition modelling 90
5.5 Special considerations for hot-melt processing bioresorbable polymers 93
5.5.1 Polylactic acid 93
5.5.2 Polycaprolactone 95
5.5.3 Polyglycolic acid 96
5.6 Summary 96
References 97
6 Cytotoxicity and biocompatibility of bioresorbable polymers Emily Crowley Maurice Dalton Gavin Burke 101
6.1 Introduction 101
6.2 Foreign-body reaction 102
6.3 Natural biomaterials 104
6.3.1 Alginate 104
6.3.2 Chitosan 105
6.3.3 Hyaluronic acid 106
6.4 Synthetic biomaterials 108
6.4.1 Polylactic acid 108
6.4.2 Polyglycolic acid 113
6.4.3 Polycaprolactone 114
6.4.4 Polyethylene glycol 115
6.4.5 Polyvinyl alcohol 116
6.4.6 Polyvinytpyrrolidone 116
6.5 Summary 117
References 117
Abbreviations 121
Index 125
