Polyurethanes modified with natural polymers for medical application Part I. POLYURETHANE/CHITOSAN AND POLYURETHANE/COLLAGEN

摘要

For over three decades polyurethanes (PUR or PU) have been reported for application in a variety of medical devices. These polymers consist of hard and soft segments, which allow for more subtle control of their structure and properties. By varying the composition of the different segments, properties of PUR can be tuned up for use in many areas of medicine. Recently, there is a great interest in modification of biomedical PUR with natural polymers making them more attractive and environmentally friendly. This group of natural polymers include chitosan and collagen. Chitosan is a crystalline polysaccharide. It is second most abundant natural polymer next to cellulose that is used in medical field. Chitosan can be applied in vastly diverse fields, ranging from waste management to food processing and medicine because of its biocompatibility, biological activity and biodegradability. Collagen is the component of tissues in nature and due to several properties it is considered for various applications in biomedical sciences. It is widely used in cosmetics surgery, healing burn wounds, orthopaedic, surgery and tissue engineering. This paper is an overview of novel achievements in medical grade PUR modifications with the use of natural polymers. Such PUR-natural polymer blends, due to their properties, may be applied as wound dressings, scaffolds in tissue engineering, tissue implants and vascular grafts.