Implantable Materials
Functional Solutions Driving Device Innovation
Foster, LLC offers deep expertise across the full spectrum of implantable polymers, covering both durable and non-durable/bioabsorbable polymers. We provide the optimal material and custom functionality required for your device, ensuring functional integrity for long-term implants or controlled absorption for temporary applications.
Durable Implantable Material Solutions
Durable implantable polymers are biodurable, non-resorbable materials designed to provide long-term structural and functional integrity within the body. These include:
Ketone-Based Polymers (PEKK, PEEK, PAEK)
Ketone-based polymers are used extensively for high-performance implantable devices due to their excellent strength, stiffness, chemical resistance, high-temperature resistance, and bone-like modulus, making them a good choice for bone-screws, spinal implants, trauma fixation, and dental implants. While PEKK and PEEK have very similar chemical structures, PEEK is a highly crystalline polymer and PEKK is less crystalline (more amorphous), offering a “tunable” crystallization rate that makes it an excellent choice for customizable 3D-printed implantable applications.
Sulfones
Sulfones are just gaining traction in implantable applications. While their physical properties are slightly below those of ketone-based polymers, they are still excellent choices for many implantable devices and are commonly used for the outer shell of implantable catheter ports.
Thermoplastic Polyurethanes (TPU)
TPUs have a long, positive history in medical devices, serving as a balance between rigid and elastomeric materials. This makes them highly suitable for implantable applications that require a flexible component capable of withstanding repeated flexure. Highly customizable, TPU applications include vascular grafts, artificial hearts, and components for knee, hip, and spinal implants.
Polypropylene (PP)
Polypropylene is used extensively in fabric-based implantable applications like surgical meshes, due to its durability. It is also a key material for suture applications, as well as vascular grafts and artificial ligaments.
Silicones
Silicones have a long-standing track record in the medical device industry for their flexibility, durability, chemical stability, and temperature resistance. They are used extensively in implantable devices, with common applications including pacemaker insulation, intraocular lenses, and shunts.
Non-Durable (Bioabsorbable) Implantable Material Solutions
Bioabsorbable polymers are plastics that break down to be fully and safely absorbed in the human body after a finite time. Predominantly used for implantable medical devices, this highly versatile polymer platform is available in homopolymer and copolymer chemical configurations and allows for a wide variety of material property adjustability. These include:
Polylactides (PLA)
PLAs are highly crystalline materials known for their slow rate of absorption (over two years). With a high modulus, they are suitable for load-bearing applications.
Polyglycolides (PGA)
PGAs are highly crystalline materials characterized by a quicker rate of absorption in the body (6-12 months). They possess a high modulus and are widely used in suture applications.
Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)
PGLA is a copolymer with properties dependent on the ratio of lactide to glycolide. The material exhibits properties ranging from amorphous to fully crystalline, which are dependent on the block structure. It has very good solubility, with its degradation rate dependent on the copolymer ratio.
Polycaprolactone (PCL)
PCL is a material with a low melting point and slow degradation rate. It is often used as an additive to improve processing characteristics and end-use properties. PCL is commonly used in dental applications and drug encapsulation.
Implantable devices may also use polymer alloys, which are blends of two or more of the materials listed above.
Design Benefits: Why Choose Non-Durable (Bioresorbable) Polymers?
Material Composition
- Synthetic Polymers: Man-made materials engineered for predictable performance and consistency.
- Biocompatible: Feature the ability to perform their intended function in the body without causing adverse local or systemic effects in the patient.
Degradation & Absorption
- Absorbed and Metabolized: After fulfilling their function, they are safely absorbed into the body and metabolized.
- Hydrolytically Unstable: This allows for a controlled breakdown (degradation) under physiological conditions.
- Tunable Characteristics: They offer a wide range of degradation characteristics that can be customized based on polymer type and structure.
Processing & Manufacturing
- Easy Processing: Bioabsorbables can be easily processed using standard fabrication techniques, such as extrusion and molding.
- Sterilizable: They can be sterilized using common methods such as gamma irradiation or Ethylene Oxide (EtO).
Design Flexibility
- Wide Range of Physical Properties: They are adaptable to meet various strength, flexibility, and durability needs.
- Programmable Properties: Their mechanical and degradation behavior can be customized ("programmed") through molecular weight variation and copolymerization to fit specific device requirements.
- Functionalization: They allow for a wide range of surface or chemical modification to achieve enhanced performance.
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