Recent achievements in the use of radiation polymerization and grafting for biomedical applications

Papers mainly published in the last few years on radiation processing of polymeric systems for biomedical applications carried out in different laboratories are reviewed. Radiation-induced polymerization to obtain hydrogels as carriers for immobilization of bioactive agents and for controlled release of drugs is described. Radiation modification of polymers by graft copolymerization and/or crosslinking for the same purposes is also reported. The second part of the paper deals with the work recently carried out in the author's laboratory. Radiation-induced polymerization at low temperatures to obtain matrices susceptible to entrap drugs, including peptides and proteins, is discussed. Radiation grafting of hydrophilic monomers onto relatively new inorganic polymers, i.e. polyphosphazenes, and the properties of such modified polymeric materials, together with their biocompatibility, are summarized. (author)