Polymers and polymer based composites have gained increasingly larger applications in medicine and surgery. Presently, most biomaterials applications rely on industrial substances that were initially developed by industry for non-medical purposes. Moreover, polymers have been often used regardless of their peculiar characteristics which can be viceversa and very attractive for some specific applications. In the past years we have assisted to a significative and faster development of polymer science as well as of medicine and surgery. The assistance of computer aided apparatus, the use of always more advanced instruments, the larger interest of the academic and industrial world, bring continuously new contributions to the research on biomedical and parmaceutical use of polymers. The need of a forum where these specific researchs can be presented and discussed, and the success of the 1st Conference on Polymers in Medicine, held in Porto Cervo in 1982, have encouraged the Editors to plana periodical meeting, focused on polymers and composites, to be held every odd year. This book contains papers selected by an International Scientific Committee among those presented at the 2nd International Conference on Polymers in Medicine, Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications, held in Capri, Italy, 3-7 June, 1985. In addition to contributed papers, several Authors were invited to present the "state of the art" as well as their personal contibution on specific key arguments. The level of all contributions was high, the participation well qualified, and the meeting interesting and hopefully pleasant.

Inhalt
I Ia. Biomedical Polymers: Synthesis and Characterization.- Interface Effects and Polymeric Biomaterials.- ESCA for the Study of Biomaterial Surfaces.- Contact Angle Analysis of Biomedical Polymers: from Air to Water to Electrolytes.- Heparin-Containing and Heparin-Like Polymers.- Heparin Immobilization on Polyurethane Surface; Grafting of Heparin Complexing Poly(Amido-Amine)s.- The Design and Synthesis of Bioabsorbable Poly(Ester-Amides).- Heparinizable Segmented Polyurethanes for Cardio-Vascular Applications.- Cell Attachment to Various Polymer Surfaces.- Immobilization of Acid Phosphatase in Poly-Hema Gels.- Interactions between Derivatives of Insoluble Polystyrene and Human Antibodies to Factor VIII:C.- Synthetic Polymer-Collagen Composites for Biomedical Use.- Direct Assay of Phagolysosomal Hydrolase by Fluorogenic Substrate-Binding Microspheres.- Ib. Biomedical Polymers: Applications.- The Smaller Diameter Vascular Graft-A Biomaterials Challenge.- Selection of Materials for Artificial Organs.- Durability Prediction and Measurement for Polymeric Biomaterials.- Characterization of Polyurethanes for Blood-Contacting Applications.- The Effect of Varying Compliance upon the Long-Term Patency of a Polyurethane Artificial Artery.- Small Diameter Blood Vessel Prostheses from Polyethers.- Immobilization of Living Cells in Biocompatible Semipermeable Microcapsules: Biomedical and Potential Biochemical Engineering Applications.- Characterization of Membranes for Artificial Organs.- Totally Bioresorbable Composites Systems for Internal Fixation of Bone Fractures.- Resin Based Dental Composites An Overview.- The Relevance of the In Situ Mucin Adsorption on Solid Surfaces in Dentistry and Ophthalmology.- II Polymer Drugs and Drug Delivery Systems.- Polymeric Micelles andLiposomes as Potential Drug Carriers.- Improved Activation of Macrophages by Polyanionic Polymers Encapsulated in Mannan Derivative-Coated Liposomes.- Control of Polymer Surface Erosion by the Use of Excipients.- A New Indomethacin Lysinate Modified Release System.- A Hybrid System for Zero Order Drug Delivery Regimen.- Ultrasonic Modulated Drug Delivery Systems.- Characterization of Drug Loading into Swellable Polymers by Surface Analysis.- Polymeric Inserts for Sustained Ocular Delivery of Pilocarpine.- Comparison of Microencapsulation Processes for Controlled Release of Drugs and Chemicals.- Contributors.