Polymers For Biotechnology And Bioengineering

While many of the early biomaterials had their origins in non-medical applications, the polymers being developed today as biomaterials are targeted quite specifically for biological use. These materials are designed for particular uses, whether that be hard tissue replacement, organ replacement, controlled drug delivery or other applications. Some materials are designed for extended stability and structural integrity, while in contrast others are built to degrade within extremely short time periods. In some cases, the biomaterial must be virtually invisible to the body, and in other cases the material is extremely sensitive to the biological environment and will change within the body.