Polymers in Medical Devices

A number of general articles have been published on the use of plastics in the construction of medical devices [25-30], including knee replacements [28], surgical instruments [30] and surgical batteries [29]. 

Polymers that are particularly suitable for the construction of medical devices include PEEK [31-33], and UHMWPE has been used in the fabrication of hip cups [34]. 

Jarman-Smith [33] discusses the increasing use of PEEK as a replacement for metal and ceramics in a variety of medical and surgical applications. He provides an overview of the properties of this material, as well as of some of its newest applications. Topics discussed include advances in applications for the spine, advances in joint replacement, advances in trauma applications, advances in craniomaxillofacial applications, extending the properties of PEEK, and, options beyond using metal and ceramics. 

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Biocompatibility is a very critical, basic safety requirement for medical polymers in medical device applications. For this, it is essential that ... 

The use of smart polymers in medical devices for minimally invasive surgery, diagnosis and other applications... 

It is convenient to start the discussion of degradation models with amorphous polymers. A typical application of amorphous polymers in medical devices is the drug-carrying layer of coronary stents. Calculating the degradation rate of the polymer is the first step to predict drug-release profile from a stent. Furthermore, all semi-crystalline polymers contain an amorphous phase. It is therefore logical to focus attention on amorphous polymers first. Semi-crystalline polymers are considered in Chapter 4. 

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