Polymeric Biomaterials in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

Polymeric biomaterials have been extensively studied and optimized for biomedical applications. In the recent two decades, research has become more focused on translational clinical applications, especially tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This chapter reviews major polymeric biomaterials, based on their diverse biomedical uses with a focus on regenerative tissue engineering. The polymers are divided into two classes: natural polymers and synthetic polymers, along with a comparison of their advantages and disadvantages. Synthetic polymers lend themselves to chemical modifications and are relatively versatile and customizable to specific needs, while natural polymers are more abundant and resemble the components present in extracellular matrices. A brief description of the physical, chemical, and biological properties of polymers is given, all of which are closely related to applications. Most of the polymers, polymer derivatives, blends, or copolymers are reported to retain their favorable characteristics suitable for tissue/regenerative engineering. Examples of applications involving repairing damaged tissues include the repair of cartilage, skin, bladder, muscle, neurite, bone, and blood vessels.