Development and long-term in vivo evaluation of a biodegradable urethane-doped polyester elastomer

A detailed report on the development of CUPE polymers synthesized using diols with 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 methylene units is presented with the aim of elucidating the influence of the diol component on the physical properties of the resulting material and assessing their long-term biological performance in vivo. Increasing the diol length leads to lower crosslinking densities, higher hydrophobicities, higher tensile strengths and elasticities, and slower polymer degradation. The choice of diol does not affect the overall cell/tissue compatibility both in vitro and in vivo. The diol component is thus established as an important parameter in controlling the structure/property relationships of the polymers, thereby increasing the choice of biodegradable elastomers for tissue engineering applications.