Patent ID: 6951902

Claim:
A polymeric composition capable of generating nitric oxide, the polymeric composition comprising: a crosslinked chemical combination of (i) a polymer having side chains along a backbone forming the polymer, at least two of the side chains containing an amino group, and (ii) a crosslinking agent containing at least two functional groups capable of reacting with the amino groups; and a plurality of nitric oxide generating functional groups associated with the crosslinked chemical combination; wherein the polymer is a polyamide, and the polyamide is synthesized by (i) reacting a monomer selected from the group consisting of unsaturated carboxylic acids, esters of unsaturated carboxylic acids, anhydrides of unsaturated carboxylic acids, and mixtures thereof, and a first amine to form an intermediate reaction product, wherein the first amine is selected from RR 1 NH, RNH 2 , polyalkylene polyamines, and mixtures thereof, wherein the R and R 1 groups are the same or different and each contain between 1 and 50 carbon atoms and are optionally substituted with heteroatoms oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus and combinations thereof, and (ii) reacting the intermediate reaction product and a second amine to form the polyamide, wherein the second amine is selected from R 2 R 3 NH, R 2 NH 2 , polyalkylene polyamines, and mixtures thereof, wherein the R 2 and R 3 groups are the same or different and each contain between 1 and 50 carbon atoms and are optionally substituted with heteroatoms oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus and combinations thereof; and at least one of the selected amines includes at least two amino groups.