Biodegradable elastomeric scaffolds are of increasing interest for applications in soft tissue repair and regeneration, particularly in mechanically active settings. The rate at which such a scaffold should degrade for optimal outcomes, however, is not generally known and the ability to select from similar scaffolds that vary in degradation behavior to allow such optimization is limited. Our objective was to synthesize a family of biodegradable polyurethane elastomers where partial substitution of polyester segments with polycarbonate segments in the polymer backbone would lead to slower degradation behavior. Specifically, we synthesized poly(ester carbonate)urethane ureas (PECUUs) using a blended soft segment of poly(caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(1,6-hexamethylene carbonate) (PHC), a 1,4-diisocyanatobutane hard segment and chain extension with putrescine. Soft segment PCL/PHC molar ratios of 100/0, 75/25, 50/50, 25/75, and 0/100 were investigated. Polymer tensile strengths varied from 14-34 MPa with breaking strains of 660-875%, initial moduli of 8-24 MPa and 100% recovery after 10% strain. Increased PHC content was associated with softer, more distensible films. Scaffolds produced by salt leaching supported smooth muscle cell adhesion and growth in vitro. PECUU in aqueous buffer in vitro and subcutaneous implants in rats of PECUU scaffolds showed degradation slower than comparable poly(ester urethane)urea and faster than poly(carbonate urethane)urea. These slower degrading thermoplastic polyurethanes provide opportunities to investigate the role of relative degradation rates for mechanically supportive scaffolds in a variety of soft tissue repair and reconstructive procedures.

Biodegradable polymers with high elasticity, low thrombogenicity, and drug loading capacity continue to be pursued for vascular engineering applications, including vascular grafts and stents. A biodegradable elastomeric polyurethane was designed as a candidate material for use as a drug-eluting stent coating, such that it was nonthrombogenic and could provide antiproliferative drug release to inhibit smooth muscle cell proliferation. A phosphorylcholine containing poly(ester urethane) urea (PEUU-PC) was synthesized by grafting aminated phosphorylcholine onto backbone carboxyl groups of a polyurethane (PEUU-COOH) synthesized from a soft segment blend of polycaprolactone and dimethylolpropionic acid, a hard segment of diisocyanatobutane and a putrescine chain extender. Poly(ester urethane) urea (PEUU) from a soft segment of polycaprolactone alone was employed as a control material. All of the synthesized polyurethanes showed high distensibility (>600%) and tensile strengths in the 20–35 MPa range. PEUUPC experienced greater degradation than PEUU or PEUU-COOH in either a saline or lipase enzyme solution. PEUU-PC also exhibited markedly inhibited ovine blood platelet deposition compared with PEUU-COOH and PEUU. Paclitaxel loaded in all of the polymers during solvent casting continued to release for 5 d after a burst release in a 10% ethanol/PBS solution, which was utilized to increase the solubility of the releasate. Rat smooth muscle cell proliferation was significantly inhibited in 1 wk cell culture when releasate from the paclitaxel-loaded films was present. Based on these results, the synthesized PEUU-PC has promising functionality for use as a nonthrombogenic, drug eluting coating on metallic vascular stents and grafts.