Improved biocompatibility of polyurethane film by association with bioactive glass through ultrasonic implantation

Synthetic biodegradable polymers are of great interest in the biomedical field; however, their biocompatibility is not always adequate for tissue engineering applications. Surface treatment and secondary bioactive phase incorporation have been reported as means of resolving such issues. In this work, biodegradable polyurethane (PU) film biocompatibility was improved with the incorporation of bioactive glass via ultrasonic method. Structural analysis revealed successful PU-glass composite formation, and MTT cytotoxic testing reported increased bioactivity via bioactive glass incorporation. The synthesised films furthermore exhibited great flexibility, with up to 889.3% elongation and increased maximum stress at failure. Ultrasonic implantation is therefore a promising potential method to obtain superior polyurethane films for biomedical applications.