NOVEL DEGRADABLE POLYMERS FOR ORTHOPEDIC APPLICATIONS

描述(改编自申请人的摘要)：数量众多 肌肉骨骼的应用将受益于最近在 开发安全、坚固、易于成型和可降解的聚合物。为 例如，通过固定治疗骨折需要使用 具有足够强度以允许固定的材料，良好的组织/材料 兼容性和易于成型(可能形成复杂的形状)，便于 由外科医生安置。此外，受控降解势在必行。 在愈合后恢复最佳的骨骼功能。材料最初必须 重新建立骨骼的机械完整性，随后退化 以使新骨形成能够承受负荷和重塑。此属性是一个 可降解聚合物材料相对于金属矫形器的主要优势 在愈合过程中屏蔽应力并可能导致骨骼萎缩的装置。 可降解聚合物植入物也消除了取回植入物的需要 并可同时用于输送治疗药物或生长 各种因素。拟议的研究的目标是开发一个新的班级 一种可降解的聚合物，可光聚合并表现出所需的 所需的机械性能(特别是在样品退化时) 整形外科的应用。一种光聚合体系的开发 有益的原因有很多，包括室内固化速度快 温度，聚合的空间控制，以及完全容易的 植入过程中的成形性和灵活性。聚合物将是 由新型多官能团单体(含3个或更多甲基丙烯酸酯)制成 群体)，这些群体的反应产生密集的交联性网络。网络 将保持生物可降解性，因为交联物将包含 酸酐或酯键，降解速度将得到控制 由网络组成和交联度的变化决定。有了这些 新材料，将进行研究，以优化聚合物组成 为了产生所需的机械性能和降解率， 实现最大的官能团转化率和最小的体积收缩 在体内固化过程中，并允许通过 外科医生。

DESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Applicant's Abstract): Numerous musculoskeletal applications would benefit from recent advances in the development of safe, strong, easily fashioned and degradable polymers. For example, treatment of 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 formation to bear load and remodel. This property is a major advantage of degradable polymeric materials over metallic orthopedic devices, which shield stresses during healing and can lead to bone atrophy. Degradable polymer implants also eliminate the need for implant retrieval and can be used simultaneously to deliver therapeutic drugs or growth factors. The objective of the proposed research is to develop a new class of degradable polymers that is photopolymerizable and exhibits the desired mechanical properties (particularly as the sample degrades) necessary for orthopedic applications. Development of a photopolymerizable system is beneficial for many reasons, including fast curing rates at room temperature, spatial control of the polymerization, and complete ease of fashioning and flexibility during implantation. The polymers will be produced from novel multifunctional monomers (with 3 or more methacrylate groups) that react to produce densely cross-linked networks. The networks will remain biodegradable because the cross-links will contain either anhydride or ester linkages, and the rate of degradation will be controlled by changes in the network composition and cross-linking density. With these new materials, studies will be performed to optimize the polymer composition to produce the desired mechanical properties and degradation rates, to attain maximum functional group conversion and minimize volume shrinkage during in vivo curing, and to allow easy placement and handling by the surgeon.