Biomedical Polymers

PRESENTED BY
MR. D.A.PAWADE

SATARA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY,SATARA

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CONTENTS

• Introduction
• Classification
• Selection parameters for biomedical
polymers
• Applications
• Conclusion
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3
Macromolecular compound obtained from
natural origin.

Chemical nature - polysaccharides, protein

and bacterial polyesters.

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Properties Of Biomedical Polymers
 Flexibility;
 Resistance to biochemical attack;
 Good biocompatibility;
 Light weight;
 Available in a wide variety of compositions with
adequate physical and mechanical properties and
 Can be easily manufactured into products with
the desired shape.

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Classification

Biomedical
Polymers

Natural Synthetic
Polymers Polymers

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 Natural polymers
Natural polymers, or polymers, derived from living

creatures, are of great interest in the biomaterials

field.
Properties of natural polymers:
 Biodegradable;

 Non-toxic/ non-inflammatory;

 Mechanically similar to the tissue to be replaced;

 Highly porous;
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 Encouraging of cell attachments and growth;

 Easy and cheap to manufacture

 Capable of attachment with other molecules (

to potentially increase scaffold interaction

with normal tissue).

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 Example of natural polymers

A. Collagen

B. Cellulose

C. Alginates

D. Dextrans and

E. Chitosan

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 Collagen
• Consist of three intertwined protein
chains, helical structure
• Collagen…..non-toxic, minimal
immune response
• Can be processed into a variety
formats
– Porous sponges, Gels, and Sheets
• Applications
– Surgery, Drug delivery, Prosthetic
implants and tissue-engineering of
multiple organs
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Chitosan
 Derived from chitin, present in hard exoskeletons
of shellfish like shrimp and crab
 Chitosan desirable properties
Minimal foreign body reaction
Controllable mechanical biodegradation
properties
 Applications
In the engineering of cartilage, nerve, and liver
tissue,
wound dressing and drug delivery devices

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Alginate
• A polysaccharide derived from brown
seaweed
 Can be processed easily in water
 Non-toxic
 Biodegradable
 Controllable porosity
• Forms a solid gel under mild processing
conditions
• Applications in
Liver, nerve, heart, cartilage & tissue-
engineering 12
Synthetic Polymers

 Advantages of Synthetic Polymers

Ease of manufacturability
process ability
reasonable cost
 The Required Properties
 Biocompatibility
 Sterilizability
 Physical Property
 Manufacturability

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Applications:
Medical disposable supplies, Prosthetic materials,
Dental materials, implants, dressings, polymeric
drug delivery, tissue engineering products

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Synthetic Polymers
Example of Synthetic Polymers :
 (PTFE) Polytetrafluoroethylene

 Polyethylene, (PE)

 Polypropylene, (PP)

 Poly (methyl methacrylate), PMMA

 Materials in Maxillofacial Prosthetic

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Classification of synthetic polymers

Synthetic
Polymers

Water Other
Biostable Bioerodible
soluble polymers

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Biostable Polymers
• Polymers that are sufficiently biostable to allow their
long term use in artificial organs blood pumps, blood
vessel prostheses, heart valves, skeletal joints, kidney
prostheses.

• A polymer must fulfill certain critical requirements if

it is to be used in an artificial organ.

 It must be physiologically inert

 The polymer itself should be stable during many

years of exposure to hydrolytic or oxidative
conditions at body temperature

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 It must be strong and resistant to impact (when
it is used as structural material to replace the
bone).

 The polymer must be sufficiently stable

chemically or thermally that it can be sterilized
by chemicals or by heat.

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Bioerodible Polymers
 Polymers that are bioerodible materials that will
serve a short term purpose in the body and then
decompose to small molecules that can be
metabolized or excreted, sometimes with the
concurrent release of drug molecules.

 Mostly bioerodible polymers used as surgical

sutures, tissue in growth materials, or controlled
release of drug.

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Water Soluble Polymers
 Water-soluble polymers (usually bioerodible) that
form part of plasma or whole blood substitute
solutions or which function as macromolecular
drugs.

 Applications:

 Improvement in the behavior of pharmaceuticals.

 Used in synthetic blood substitutes as viscosity

enhancers or as oxygen-transport macromolecules.

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 Selection Parameters For Biomedical
Polymers
The design and selection of biomaterials depend on
different properties –
Host Response
 Biocompatibility

 Biofunctionality

 Functional Tissue Structure and Pathobiology

 Toxicology

 Appropriate Design and Manufacturability

 Mechanical Properties of Biomedical polymers 21
 Host Response: The response of the host organism (local
and systemic) to the implanted polymeric material or device.

 Biocompatibility : The ability of a material to perform with

an appropriate host response, in a specific application.

 Toxicology: Should not be toxic.

 Appropriate Design and Manufacturability:

Biomaterials should be machinable, moldable, extrudable.

 Mechanical Properties of Biomedical polymers:

Tensile strength, yield strength, elastic modulus, surface
finish, creep, and hardness.

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Application
Cardiovascular Applications
Bones, Joints, And Teeth
Contact Lenses And Intraocular Lenses
Artificial Kidney And Hemodialysis Materials
Oxygen-Transport Membranes
Surgical Sutures
Tissue Ingrowth Polymers
Controlled Release Of Drugs 23
Heart Valves and Vascular Prostheses

The Artificial Heart

Heart pump designs

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 Damaged heart valves, weakened arterial
walls, and blocked arteries constitute some of
the commonest cardiovascular disorders.

 Silicone rubber is used because of its

inertness, elasticity, and low capacity to cause
blood clotting.

 Poly(tetrafluoroethylene)
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 Artificial Heart

 Artificial hearts are a mechanical device, they

are typically used in order to bridge the time
to heart transplantation, or to permanently
replace the heart in case transplantation is
impossible.

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 Artificial Heart

 The heart is conceptually simple, it’s formed by

synthetic materials and power supplies. A
possible consequence it could be the body
rejection. These complications limited the
lifespan of early human recipients to hours or
days

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 ABIO HEART

 It’s the last artificial heart invented. It’s

made by titanium and a special plastic in
which the blood doesn’t stick. The heart has
got flexible walls with silicon, a motor that
moves it, and in the valve it controls the
pressure.

 5 years are the life of this hearts.

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Heart Pump Designs

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Bones, Joints, And Teeth

 Occasionally repaired with the use of polyurethanes,

epoxy resins, and rapid curing vinyl resins.

 Silicone rubber rods and closed cell sponges- replacement

finger and wrist joints.

 Elbow joints- vinyl polymers and nylon

 Knee joints- cellophane and, more recently, silicone

rubber

 Poly(methyl methacrylate) is the principal polymer used

both for acrylic teeth and for the base material
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Contact Lenses And Intraocular
Lenses

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Artificial Kidney And Hemodialysis
Materials
• The function of a kidney is to remove low molecular
weight waste products from the bloodstream.
• Artificial kidneys have function by passage of the
blood between the walls of a dialysis cell which is
immersed in a circulating fluid.
• Cellophane- Semipermeable dialysis membranes

• The polymer is "heparinized" to prevent blood

clotting-polycarbonate or cellulose acetate fibers. 32
Oxygen-Transport Membranes
 Surgical work on the heart frequently requires the
use of a heart lung machine to circulate and
oxygenate the blood.
 Poly(dimethylsiloxane) membranes are highly
efficient gas transporters.
 It is of interest that silicons rubber has
approximately six times the oxygen permeability of
fluorosilicones.

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Poly(glycolic acid), or condensation copolymers of
glycolic acid with lactic acid.

A high tensile strength and is

compatible

The polymer degrades by hydrolysis to nontoxic

glycolic acid.
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Drug release by diffusion
 Early encapsulation and entrapment systems
released the drug from within the polymer via
molecular diffusion
◦ When the polymer absorbs water it swells in size
◦ Swelling created voids throughout the interior polymer
◦ Smaller molecule drugs can escape via the voids at a
known rate controlled by molecular diffusion (a function
of temperature and drug size)

Add Add
water time

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Drug release by erosion
• Modern delivery systems employ biodegradable
polymers
– When the polymer is exposed to water hydrolysis occurs
– Hydrolysis degrades the large polymers into smaller
biocompatible compounds

– Bulk erosion process – Surface erosion process

Polymer Water attacks bond

mer mer mer mer mer mer mer mer mer

mer mer mer mer mer mer mer mer mer

mer mer mer mer mer mer mer mer mer 36

Bulk erosion
(e.g. poly lactide, polyglycolic acid)
◦ When the polymer is exposed to water hydrolysis occurs
◦ Hydrolysis degrades the large polymers into smaller
biocompatible compounds
◦ These small compound diffuse out of the matrix through the
voids caused by swelling
◦ Loss of the small compounds accelerates the formation of
voids thus the exit of drug molecules

Add Add
water time

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Surface erosion
(e.g., polyanhydrides)
–When the polymer is exposed to water hydrolysis
occurs
–Hydrolysis degrades the large polymers into smaller
biocompatible compounds
–These small compound diffuse from the interface of
the polymer
–Loss of the small compounds reveals drug trapped
within
–Note these polymer do not swell.

Add Add
water time

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Biomedical polymers are essentially a biomaterial,
that is used and adapted for a medical application.
Biomedical polymer can have a beginning
functional, such as being used for a heart valve and
more interactive purpose such as hydroxyapatite
coated in implant and such implants are lunching
upwards of twenty year. Many prostheses and
implants made from polymers have been in use for
the last three decades and there is a continuous
search for more biocompatible and stronger
polymer prosthetic materials.
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