Development of Smart Materials for Invasive Medical Applications Using Shape Memory Polymers

Development of Smart Materials for Invasive Medical Applications Using Shape Memory Polymers

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) represent an intelligent polymeric material which can fix deformed temporary shape and recover their permanent shapes upon an external stimulus such that temperature, light, electricity, water, pH, magnetism and specific ions. This property is called shape memory effect (SME). The SME has underpinned its usefulness of SMPs in delicate minimally invasive surgeries (MIS’s) such as vascular stents, clot removals etc. The invasive biodegradable SMP devices can avoid second surgery and have a great potential over any conventional metallic biomedical device. The ability to change triggering temperature to use in a broader range of temperatures while keeping SME is another superior capability of SMPs. Additionally, SMPs have shown a good prospective due to their special characteristics such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, low rejection by host and low density. However, intrinsic low stiffness, strength and recovery stress possess a significant limitation in the applications of SMPs. In-depth literature survey has revealed that many existing concepts were terminated without further continuation. This may be mainly due to strict, lengthier Vitro and Vivo certification process. Therefore, to date, a limited number of invasive products have been realized and commercially available. This paper provides a brief overview of current SMP based invasive medical applications, status and limitations. This review will be more beneficial to identify current research gaps, for those who are emerging into SMP based invasive biomedical applications.