Design of Nano-Chitosans for Tissue Engineering and Molecular Release

The design of biopolymers such as chitosan is currently a major activity in biomedicine and nanomedicine to fabricate innovative medical devices suitable for therapeutic, diagnostic and orteranostic use. Indeed, the peculiar properties of chitosan such as mucoadhesivity and pH sensitivity make chitosan suitable for drug delivery systems. Chitosan can also be manipulated at the nanoscale, in terms of characteristic size, surface morphology and composition, for the fabrication of nanodevices or nanochitosans with improved properties in comparison with bulk materials of micrometric size. This chapter reviews current uses of chitosan for the fabrication of nanodevices suitable for biomedical applications. We describe the main processing routes used to fabricate smart devices at the nanometric size. Recent applications of nano-chitosans in the form of fibres, particles or capsules for in tissue engineering and drug delivery are then presented. We emphasize the role of additive materials such as magnetic particles with specific functionalities that are able to improve, to control and to guide molecular release in vitro and in vivo.