Chapter category: BioMaterials
Biomedical Applications of Polyurethanes
Biomedical Applications of Polyurethanes
Edited by: Patrick VermetteISBN: 1-58706-023-X
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Chapter authors:
Mylène Bergeron, Stéphane Lévesque, and Robert Guidoin
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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. However one should ascertain that PUs are indeed the best materials to manufacture devices for specific applications (Fig. 1). We hereby propose a review of some applications which might be incomplete but focus on established successes, disputable results and potential further developments.
The armory of cardiac surgeons would not be as impressive as it is without the outstanding contribution of polyurethanes in intra–aortic balloons, blood sacs for ventricular assist devices (VADs), catheters, pacemaker leads to name the most important. Results of PUs as blood conduits have still not found a niche because of the unresolved lack of long–term resistance to degradation. Breast implants covered with PU foam are part of a scientific controversy. The use of PU in contraception is limited but these materials present some interesting features. Wound dressings and scaffolds for tissue engineering could permit new developments.
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...
