Hybrid polymeric materials for medical applications

Paper presents recent achievements related to polymer containing organic-inorganic hybrids used for various medical applications. In particular, there are described syntheses of polymers on inorganic supports, syntheses of hybrid nano- and microparticles, self-assembly of nano- and microparticles into hybrid structures, and also hybrid materials obtained in sol-gel processes. Moreover, presented are selected applications of these materials for medical diagnostic, fabrication of temporary bone-growth inducing implants, and examples of drug delivery systems from implantable devices, like scaffolds for tissue engineering and stents for coronary angioplasty.