Polymeric biocompatible structures for controlled drug release

The purpose of using polymers in drug delivery systems is to be able to create a membrane-like barrier that would control the delivery of the active agent for an extended period. Poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA), when cross-linked, swells to a significant extent. Hence, it was thought necessary to determine its degree of swelling when incorporating methyl methacrylate (MMA), which is a hydrophobic monomer. The polymeric micro-beads of p(HEMA) and functionalised biopolymers of p(HEMA-co-MMA), p(HEMA-co-AA) and p(HEMA-co-MMA-co-AA) were prepared by precipitant polymerisation method. There were obtained different types of micro-polymeric beads, which were characterised by elemental analysis, measure of the degree of swelling, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and in vitro tests. All these tests gave satisfactory results.