Biopolymers in Medicine

Biopolymers and their nanocomposites have made tremendous progress as a result of their biofunctionality, biocompactibility and biodegradability. These attributes make them resorbable while they serve as a vehicle for drug delivery for healing, skin regeneration and skin grafting. Materials that have been developed for this purpose are hydrolytically sensitive biocellulosics, furan-based polymers, polyesters and their amides, polypeptides, polysaccharides, polyphosphazenes, polyanhydrides, polyurethanes and pseudo-polyamino acids, to mention a few. These polymers may be synthesized into hydrogels, spun into fibres and fabricated into fibrous scaffolds, for medical applications. The technology as it evolves tends to seek ways of achieving drug delivery for living cells replication by serving as drug carriers. The drugs may be synthetic nanoparticles or sourced from natural and renewable materials such as metabolic extracts, antibiotics, antiseptics and antimicrobial drugs from medicinal plants which may be encapsulated into the resorbable biopolymer. The future holds interesting promises for this class of polymers in the areas of biomedicine, skin grafting, wound healing and regeneration. These materials may be introduced into biological systems by surgical procedures or grafting techniques. With the proven efficacy of this technology, more researches will definitely be carried out on biopolymer materials and their nanocomposites for regenerative and reconstructive medicine.