Biodegradable synthetic polymers in biomedical application: A review

Biotechnology associated with medical technology has allowed biodegradable synthetic polymers to have versatile and diversified biomedical applications due to interesting properties such as good cell adhesion, in vivo proliferation, and degradation without harmful effects to the human body. Thus, they are suitable for a variety of applications, especially those related to therapeutics or pharmaceutics, for example, tissue engineering and drug delivery. This work aimed to revise the broad applications of the term biodegradation in different areas of science. We focused on the most recent biomedical applications of biodegradable synthetic polymers, revising the characteristics which have contributed to solving health-related problems. Actual, efficient, and consistent results have been introduced in the market as a result of the growing search for new technologies. They have been applied both at macro and nanometer scales, in isolated and conjugated forms, or even as encapsulating matrices. Biodegradable synthetic polymers present longer degradation periods when compared to natural polymers, they stand out in tissue engineering since they can be adjusted according to their composition, reaching various degrees of selectivity for specific clinical applications.