BIOCOMPATIBLE BIOMIMETIC POLYMER STRUCTURES WITH AN ACTIVE RESPONSE FOR IMPLANTOLOGY AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE PART I: BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE ACTIVE IMPLANT’S BIOCOMPATIBILITY

Abstract

Physical and chemical criteria of biocompatibility of the active polymer implants and stimuli-responsive scaffolds are considered. From the standpoint of the surface physics and controlled wetting, the possibilities of dynamic control of biocompatibility and adaptive changes in the implant properties in response to the signal from the surrounding tissues are considered. The basic properties of the active biocompatible and biomimetic implantable materials, which distinguish them from the passive implants, are summarized. The latter include: electrophysical and electrophysiological membrane biocompatibility (up to the analogy with biomembranes – the so-called Fendler’s “membrane mimetics”); excitability, that is, the ability to qualitatively change their state in response to the external stimulus; compatibility of the matching parameters and impedances of biomembranes and active implantable materials; the presence of the main types of the energy conversion characteristic of biomembranes (chemiosmotic, electrochemical, electromechanical, etc.); the ability to transport and release pharmaceuticals consistent with the parameters of the cellular microenvironment and regulated by its state. Due to the qualitative change in the biomedical aim of such implants (from replacing the natural function to its regeneration and maintenance), there is a possibility of implementing various new biologically relevant functions using these materials, such as the ability to sensing and actuation, based on their reactivity and signal / energy conversion capacity. Of particular interest is the adaptive realization of the above functions in a growing and developing organism during its ontogenesis.

Keywords

• biocompatibility
• active implants
• biomimetic polymer structures
• soft mater implants
• scaffolds
• adaptive biomaterials
• targeted drug delivery
• membrane mimetics