title: Environmentally smart polymers.
abstract: Much progress has been made in the synthesis of polymers that emulate certain naturally occurring polymers and demonstrate exquisite sensitivity to environmental factors such as temperature, pH and mechanical stress. This article explains how these are finding use in medical technologies such as drug delivery and cell-sheet tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Engineering Department, University of Liverpool, UK Centre for Tissue Engineering. dfw.ce@liverpool.ac.uk
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D020341:Absorbable Implants; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D004777:Environment; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011108:Polymers