Synthetic bio-actuators and their applications in biomedicine

The promise of biomimetic smart structures that can function as sensors and actuators in biomedicine is enormous. Technological development in the field of stimuli-responsive shape memory polymers have opened up a new avenue of applications for polymer-based synthetic actuators. Such synthetic actuators mimic various attributes of living organisms including responsiveness to stimuli, shape memory, selectivity, motility, and organization. This article briefly reviews various stimuli-responsive shape memory polymers and their application as bioactuators. Although the technological advancements have prototyped the potential applications of these smart materials, their widespread commercialization depends on many factors such as sensitivity, versatility, moldability, robustness, and cost.