Chapter category: BioMaterials
Additives in Biomedical Polyurethanes
Biomedical Applications of Polyurethanes
Edited by: Patrick VermetteISBN: 1-58706-023-X
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Chapter authors:
Nathalie Dubé, Sahar Al–Malaika, Gaétan Laroche, and Patrick Vermette
In the preceding Chapter, industrial production of polyurethanes (PUs) was covered. The main industrial processes and sterilization techniques that apply to biomedical polyurethanes were discussed. However, the issue of using polymer additives during the preparation of commercial polyurethanes must also be covered. In fact, polymers are usually mixed with one or several additives to produce plastics for target end–use application. Additives are normally incorporated into a monomer solution or a polymer during polymer synthesis, compounding, melt processing and molding, and production operations of plastics articles.1 Their use can be simply to improve manufacturing operations or to affect specific property enhancement or modification in order to meet specific requirements fundamental to the technological end–use. In fact, the "additives" terminology is descriptive of their primary function: antioxidants, heat and light stabilizers, processing aids, impact modifiers, fire retardants, fillers and coloring agents. Alternatively, some of the additives can be made an integral part of the polymer macromolecular structure by grafting or copolymerization.2 Additives are, therefore, essential ingredients of a polymer formulation in the production of an end–use product. For biomedical applications, the biological response of additives should receive no less attention than that of the polymer substrate. This Chapter aims to review briefly the use of additives in polymers, with particular emphasis on their use in the production of polyurethanes that are destined for biomedical applications and their potential effects on the biological response of the mammalian host body.
Additional chapters from this book:
The Future of Polyurethanes
Robert Guidoin and Hans J. Griesser
Where would implantology and the biomedical devices industry be today if it were not for synthetic polymeric biomaterials such as polyurethanes? While "natural" biopolymers such as reconstitut...
Biomedical Applications of Polyurethanes
Mylène Bergeron, Stéphane Lévesque, and Robert Guidoin
Polyurethanes (PUs) represent a very broad family of polymers. They have earned an enviable and irreplaceable position within the medical industry. The applications of PUs are limitless. Ho...
Surface Modification of Polyurethanes
Hans J. Griesser
Why perform surface modification of polyurethanes (PUs) when numerous publications and patents claim "biocompatible" and "blood compatible" PUs? The simple answer is that some claims are exagg...
Developments in Design and Synthesis of Biostable Polyurethanes
Pathiraja A. Gunatillake, Gordon F. Meijs, and Simon J. McCarthy
Synthetic elastomers are frequently the materials of choice for the construction ofimplantable medical device componentry. To function effectively, the chemical and mechanical properties of...
Biomedical Degradation of Polyurethanes
Patrick Vermette, Stéphane Lévesque, and Hans J. G
As discussed in the preceding Chapter, polyurethanes (PUs) generally show relatively acceptable biological responses, which have frequently led to statements that they are biocompatible. Ho...
Biocompatibility of Polyurethanes
Yves Marois and Robert Guidoin
In the last 50 years, the development and the conception of biomaterials used for the construction of prostheses and medical devices has expanded very rapidly. A wide variety of biomaterial...
Additives in Biomedical Polyurethanes
Nathalie Dubé, Sahar Al–Malaika, Gaétan Laroche, and Patrick Vermette
In the preceding Chapter, industrial production of polyurethanes (PUs) was covered. The main industrial processes and sterilization techniques that apply to biomedical polyurethanes were discu...
Commercial Production of Polyurethanes
Stéphane Lévesque, Denis Rodrigue, Patrick Vermette, and Pathiraja Gunatillake
As discussed in the preceding Chapter, polyurethanes (PUs) involve relatively complexchemistry and synthesis procedures compared to other conventional polymers used in biomedical applications....
Synthesis, Physicochemical and Surface Characteristics of Polyurethanes
Martin Castonguay, Jeffrey T. Koberstein, Ze Zhang, and Gaétan Laroche
This Chapter constitutes the starting point that will bring the reader to the other subjects discussed in this book as, for example, the biological response and biostability related to polyure...
