Silicone Materials for Long-term Medical Implants: Innovate for the Future
By Feifei Lin, Ph.D., Business Development Manager, Healthcare, Elkem Silicones USA Corp.
With the growth of the aging population, the number of age-related diseases has increased. Every year millions of patients sustained or improved their lives through surgical procedures involving implanted medical devices. Implants such as orthopedics, pacemakers, cardiovascular stents, defibrillators, neural prosthetics or combinational devices like drug-eluting stents have become an indispensable part of modern medicine.
Long-term implantable devices used to improve and sustain life are highly regulated by regulatory bodies around the world to ensure safety and efficacy. Raw materials supplied to medical implants are subjected to the qualification of the devices makers.
Silicone elastomer advantages
Primarily due to the stability of the Si-O-Si bond, silicone elastomers are more suitable for medical implants than carbon-based plastics and rubber in many aspects:
Unsurpassed biocompatibility and hypoallergenic
Chemically inert, resistant to oil, solvent and stain
Bacterial resistant, easy to clean and sterilize
Long shelf life, maintain performance and integrity under harsh conditions, such as -80C to 300C
Dielectric with superior insulating properties
Because silicone elastomers have these superior characteristics, silicones have been used in long-term implants for decades. The first published report of silicone elastomer for long term implantation was in 1946 by Dr. Franklin H Lahey,...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Devices Authors: MassDevice Tags: Sponsored Content Source Type: news
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