The application of shape memory polymers in the treatment of various diseases,today and future: a narrative review
The application of shape memory polymers in the treatment of various diseases,today and future: a narrative review
yasaman zamanian,1,*Fateme Keykhosravi,2faeze niazi,3Hajar Karimi,4Ali Bahramnejad,5Hossein afshari,6
1. student research committe, Kerman medical University, Kerman, Iran 2. Student research committee, Islamic Azad University, Kerman Brunch, Kerman, Iran 3. Student research committee, Islamic Azad University, Kerman Brunch, Kerman, Iran 4. Nurse of intensive care unit (icu) Teaching Hospital, Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences 5. Student research committee, Kerman medical University, Kerman, Iran 6. Student Research Committee, Islamic Azad University, Larestan Brunch, Lar, Iran
Introduction: Expensive and dangerous surgeries, the slow process of healing of many diseases and the possibility of their relapse are problems that have become a global concern today. Shape memory polymers (SMP) are materials with a three-dimensional porous structure that can change their geometric shape in response to external stimuli such as heat, moisture, and pressure, and can be used as foam, scaffold, patch and other polymer substrates. Generally, the structure of SMPs consists of two phases, called basic phase and reversible switching phase. In the basic phase, SMPs are in their original form, while in the switching phase, the secondary form is created and the possibility of changing the form is provided. In tissue engineering, porous SMPs can be designed as self-regulating scaffolds that are used to stimulate the growth or regeneration of various tissues. The use of SMPs has the potential to replace current medical procedures with much less invasion. This review aimed to synthesize evidence on the benefits of application of SMPs in treatment of various diseases.
Methods: This is a narrative review study conducted in September 2022, and the authors searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Google Scholar search engine, and Scopus databases (from 2010 to 2022) using the keywords "shape memory polymer", "Tissue engineering", "self-regulating", "biofunctionality", "minimally invasive delivery" and "personalized treatment". After the initial search, screening was done in two stages. In the first stage, the title and abstract were checked in terms of relevance to the study objectives, and 132 related articles were selected. In the next step, 25 articles that met the inclusion criteria (English-language studies, original, intervention and observation articles) were selected and finally, we independently extracted and combined the data from the selected articles.
Results: The results of this study showed that the benefits of using SMPs in the treatment of various diseases include: improving the effect of treating bone defects as a result of diseases such as osteonecrosis and a suitable replacement for arthroplasty, improving the effect of treating vascular aneurysm by filling the expansion of vascular aneurysm, eliminating thromboembolism in stroke brain, intra-intestinal stents to transfer the prosthesis to the intestinal canal, reconstruction of congenital defects in the rat's stomach, recovery of heart attack using SMP scaffold with stem cells and growth factors as a patch of the injury site and placing them in the heart tissue with the help of Needle (the transfer of tissue pieces is not limited to one tissue, because the transfer can be done under the skin, heart, liver and around the aorta). SMPs can also be used in dialysis to reduce arterial pressure, control fertility and temporary and permanent sterilization in the form of stents, open or close the urinary and genital tracts in the form of stents, reduce intraocular pressure in the form of implant and healing Astroglial lesions in the brain injury.
Conclusion: This study stated benefits of application of SMPs According to the reviewed studies, we concluded that in the near future, a strong focus on SMP will enable recovery and activation of scaffold forms independent of body temperature and without the need for direct access. In addition, they can be used for personalized patient care. Also, degradable SMP stents are considered a very attractive future strategy that may overcome treatment-related complications such as late thrombosis and also provide a way to deliver SMP materials to the heart via angiography. This study has tried to have a comprehensive and comparative review of the benefits of SMPs in the treatment of various diseases, and more studies are needed to examine the benefits and challenges of each of the mentioned cases in a more specialized manner.