Shunsuke Hirotsu "Coexistence of Phases and the Nature of First-Order Transition in Poly-N-isopropylacrylamide Gels," Masayuki Tokita "Friction between Polymer Networks of Gels and Solvent," Masahiro Irie "Stimuli-Responsive Poly(N-isopropyl- acrylamide), Photo- and Chemicals-Induced Phases Transitions Edward Cussler, Karen Wang, John Burban"Hydrogels as Separation Agents," Stevin Gehrke "Synthesis, Equilibrium Swelling, Kinetics Permeability and Applications of Environmentally Responsive Gels," Pedro Verdugo "Polymer Gel Phase Transition in Condensation- Decondensation of Secretory Products," Etsuo Kokufuta "Novel Applications for Stimulus-Sensitive Polymer Gels in the Preparation of Functional Immobilized Biocatalysts," Teruo Okano "Molecular Design of Temperature-Responsive Polymers as Intelligent Materials," Atsushi Suzuki "Phase Transition in Gels of Sub-Millimeter Size Induced by Interaction with Stimuli," Makoto Suzuki, O. Hirasa "An Approach to Artificial Muscle by Polymer Gels due to Micro-Phase Separation."

The range of materials used for biomedical applications is very broad. This means that the demands on their properties are very diverse depending on various medical areas and applications. Moreover, it is often necessary to have available materials with the possibility to set the required parameters very precisely in very wide ranges. Because of the similar mechanical behaviour of hydrogels with that of living tissues and their good compatibility and ability of hydrogels to swell in water, the hydrogels are often used in biomedical applications. This book discusses and presents the use of hydrogel polymers in biology and medicine.