CAREER: Photocrosslinkable Polymers for Fracture Fixation

9734236 Anseth通过固定治疗骨折需要使用具有足够强度的材料进行固定，具有良好的组织/材料相容性，并且易于成型（可能形成复杂的形状），便于外科医生放置。此外，控制降解是必要的，以恢复最佳的骨功能愈合。该材料必须首先重建骨的机械完整性，然后降解以允许新骨长入。因此，可降解聚合物材料为广泛使用的金属植入物提供了重要的替代方案。可降解聚合物消除了第二次手术的需要，如果精心设计，可以释放化合物来加速愈合或预防感染。该CAREER计划的研究部分旨在开发一种新型高强度、表面腐蚀、光固化（即在光照下发生反应）聚合物，用于骨科应用，如骨折固定。特别是，这项工作的基本原理是由三个关键假设驱动的：i)光聚合允许体内固化，这将为外科医生植入聚合物的放置和处理提供极大的灵活性；Ii)聚合物的交联将提供一种有效的工具来控制材料的物理和机械性能，而不会对主干化学进行重大修改，从而改变生物相容性；iii)表面侵蚀型聚酸酐网络，以可控的方式降解并保持聚合物的结构完整性，将有利于骨科应用。本职业规划的教育部分与研究计划密切相关。为本科生提供特殊的研究机会（例如，高级论文项目），并将团队导向的研究项目纳入高级选修课程。在通过研究进行的教育之外，将开发新的课程来检查人体的工程方面以及使用工程技能来解决医疗问题。最后，科罗拉多大学完成了其综合教学实验室（ITLL）。该设施是未来工程教育方向的国家模式，综合学习方法（解决学习风格和跨部门团队合作）将被纳入新的聚合物课程并进行试点。＊＊＊

9734236 Anseth Treatment of bone fractures through fixation requires the use of materials with sufficient strength to allow fixation, good tissue/material compatibility, and facile molding (into potentially complex shapes) for easy placement by the surgeon. In addition, controlled degradation is imperative to restore optimum bone function upon healing. The material must initially re-establish the mechanical integrity of the bone and subsequently degrade to allow new bone ingrowth. Hence, degradable polymeric materials provide an important alternative to widely-used metallic implants. Degradable polymers eliminate the need for a second surgery and, if carefully designed, can release compounds to accelerate healing or prevent infections. The research component of this CAREER plan targets the development of a new class of high-strength, surface-eroding, photocurable (i.e., react upon exposure to light) polymers for orthopaedic applications such as fracture fixation. In particular, the rationale for this work is driven by three key hypotheses: i) photopolymerization allows in vivo curing, which will provide great flexibility for the placement and handling of implantable polymers for surgeons; ii) crosslinking of polymers will provide an effective tool to control the physical and mechanical properties of materials without major modifications to the backbone chemistry, which can alter biocompatibility; and iii) surface-eroding polyanhydrides networks, which degrade in a controlled fashion and maintain the structural integrity of the polymer, will be advantageous for orthopaedic applications. The educational component of this CAREER plan is intimately linked with the research plan. Special opportunities for undergraduate research (e.g., senior thesis projects) and incorporation of team-oriented research projects in advanced elective courses will be developed. Outside of education through research, new courses will be developed to examine engineering aspects o f the human body and the use of engineering skills to address medical problems. Finally, the University of Colorado has completed its Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory (ITLL). This facility is a national model for future directions in engineering education, and the integrated learning approach (addressing learning styles and cross-departmental teamwork) will be incorporated and piloted in a new polymer courses. ***