Elastomers in Medicine

Abstract

Abstract The last review in Rubber Chemistry and Technology of the role of elastomers in medicine was that of Silas Braley in 1971, “Elastomers for Implantation in the Human Body”. The present review focuses on the elastomer/biomedicine interface of the past dozen years, although the need for historical perspective requires inclusion of some earlier references. The technical literature during this period dealing with elastomeric biomaterials has broadened at what might be called an exponentially increasing rate. It becomes quickly apparent in reviewing the recent literature that elastomers have been making profound contributions to both the quality and the extension of human life. It is to some of these applications that this review will be confined. The dozens of less critical, albeit important, medical applications—population control devices, surgeon's gloves, medical tubing, finger cots, etc.—will have to be the subject of another review. Even with this attenuation of focus, only a small fraction of the most serious applications can be discussed. This review is addressed more to the rubber technologist than to the medical community; for this reason, it includes sections on testing, purification, and surface modification of elastomers, as well as the practical issue of the newly developing regulatory aspects of elastomeric medical devices. while this review was in preparation, the first total replacement of a human heart with a permanent artificial one constructed of rubber, metal, and plastic took place on December 2, 1982, at the University of Utah. Although the news media understandably focused attention on the few medical and engineering scientists immediately involved, the technical literature on development of the artificial heart (including left ventricular assist devices) tells the story of the labors of scores of biomedical scientists who made this event possible.