Question

Write a comprehension on the diversity of polymers used in the medical field and explain how and why they are suited to the specific applications you are discussing.

Answer 1

The central role of polymers in the development of functional biomaterials has been fueled in large part by advances in synthetic methodologies that have enabled the production of well-defined and functionalized polymers that are responsive to desired physiological processes. Commodity synthetic polymers such as poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA), poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) have been used widely and for many decades as contact lens and intraocular lens materials, formulated into thin films and microspheres as drug delivery reservoirs, and employed in the preparation of cell-compatible polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering.1

With the extensive development of living and controlled polymerizations, additional and numerous types of biomaterials have emerged with increasing levels of sophistication in the ability to tune and manipulate complex physical and biological properties. Ever-increasing functional group tolerance of controlled polymerization methods have enabled a large scope of modifications of polymer behavior (e.g., degradable constituents and biochemical moieties), as well as great flexibility of properties under a wide range of use conditions (e.g., pH, ionic strength, and chemical compounds).2, 3 The development of recombinant methods as a tool in polymer science has complemented these advances in synthetic methods, and has significantly expanded the library of polymers containing sequences from naturally occurring proteins as well as components of native extracellular matrix (ECM), yielding biomaterials with tailored mechanical and cell signaling functions that mimic the complexity of native tissues.4–9

Taken together, the progress of the macromolecules community over the past five decades has not only enabled the development of functional biomaterials and novel medical products, but also the investigation and understanding of fundamental biological processes that underpin new approaches in medicine. Major contributions have been made in the well-controlled manipulation of materials structures over multiple lengthscales, the introduction of dynamically versatile modifications to introduce complexity that can both mimic and affect in vivo cell-materials interactions, and the production of sequentially programmed biomaterial systems for targeted delivery of drugs, genes, and cells via de novo stimuli-responsive strategies.