Characteristics of PLLA films blended with PEG block copolymers as additives for biodegradable polymer stents

Purpose Biodegradable poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) has been widely used as stent materials with good biocompatibility and its controllability over biodegradation rate. However, PLLA has several restrictions such as prolonged degradation and limited swelling. In this study, PLLA films blended with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based block copolymers as additives were fabricated to investigate the effect of PEG based additives.