Shape-memory biomedical polymers launched. (Innovation: Research).(Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry and Massachusetts Institute of Technology develop shape-memory biodegradable polymer)(Brief Article)

Chemical Week, May, 2002 by Wood, Andrew

Scientists from the Institute for Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry (ITMC; Aachen, Germany) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge) have developed a shape-memory biodegradable polymer that they say could have wideranging medical applications. The researchers demonstrated the polymer in "smart sutures," 'which can be made to tighten up after a procedure (picture).

Shape-memory polymers can "memorize" a permanent shape, which can differ significantly from a compressed or extended temporary shape; the transition is usually initiated by a change in temperature. Existing shape-memory polymers are either nonbiodegradable, or they biodegrade but are not biocompatible, the researchers say.

The material is a block copolymer based on...

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