Recent Advances in Polyurethane Polymer for Biomedical Applications

Polyurethanes (PUs) are versatile polymers with tunable physicochemical, mechanical, and biological properties, and as such, making them highly suitable for a wide range of biomedical applications. Advances in polymerization techniques have enabled significant modifications to PU surfaces, thereby enhancing their functionality for diverse uses. This review discusses PU synthesis, chemistry, and surface modification strategies, and provides an overview of commercially available materials, patents, and biomedical applications, including coatings, implants, tissue engineering, drug delivery systems, and cardiovascular devices. It also highlights recent progress in PU-based biomaterials, focusing on biocompatibility, degradation processes, and emerging market trends. Although PUs have many advantages, some challenges remain, including problems with biodegradability, long-term biocompatibility, mechanical limitations, processing difficulties and surface degradation, bacterial development, colonization, and calcification in biomedical applications. With ongoing research into sustainable and biodegradable PU formulations, there is strong potential for polyurethane technology to play a transformative role in the next generation of medical innovations.