Biomedical Applications of Polymeric Nanoparticles Incorporated in the Tissue-Engineered Scaffolds

Cardiovascular illness is a major issue worldwide. So many treatments are established to treat this cardiac illness, but they have some drawbacks like poor survivability, high cost, and laboriousness. Instead of these methods, nano-based polymeric scaffolds are introduced for treatments of cardiac illness. This book chapter discussed the characterization of nano-based polymeric scaffold and their components. The polymers are essential to prepare the scaffolds. Because they act as the backbone of the scaffold, they give physical and mechanical strength to the scaffolds. The polymers are grouped into two divisions; they are natural and synthetic polymers. Collagen, gelatin, chitosan, alginates, silk fibroin, hyaluronic acid, fibroin, and keratin are natural polymers. Polycaprolactone, polylactic acid, polyglycolic acid, and polyvinyl alcohol act as synthetic polymers. Nanotechnology is an emerging field; the nano-size metals play a vital role in drug-targeting mechanisms. Hence, metals are employed in the treatment of cardiac illness. Among the nanoparticles, selenium, gold, silver, copper, and platinum nanoparticles’ properties and their medicinal uses are discussed in this review. Scaffolds are nothing but polymeric biofilm that can imitate the extracellular matrix. It should also be allowed to permeate selective molecules to the cells or tissue and be biodegradative. This kind of scaffold preparation and how they are employed in cardiac tissue engineering treatment were also discussed in this chapter.