Elastomers Used in Medical Applications

Introduction
Prof James Busfield (QMUL)

Fast Photo-Curable Silicones for Additive Manufacturing and Organ-on-Chip Technologies
Professor Julien Gautrot, QMUL

Silicone elastomers are attractive candidates for additive manufacturing as they display unique mechanical properties and thermal stability. We make use of the air stability of thiol-ene coupling for the fast curing of silicones in air for application in a broad range of additive manufacturing platforms, from conductive resins to actuated organ-on-chips and hydrogel hybrids

Anisotropic elastomers for polymer heart valves
Ruhi Patel, University of Cambridge

Insight into the composite structure of the native heart valve has inspired the study of artificial materials that mimic the human tissue. The Structured Materials group at Cambridge University has developed an injection moulded prosthetic heart valve made from block copolymers. Phase separation in these thermoplastic elastomers enables tailored anisotropy during the manufacturing process, to enhance the durability of prosthesis.

Auxetic polymers for medical device technology
Professor Andrew Alderson, Sheffield Hallam University

Auxetic polymers expand laterally when stretched lengthwise and are found in a range of natural biomaterials. This provides inspiration in how to achieve the auxetic effect and how to benefit from it in biomedical applications. Recent developments in the design, synthesis, fabrication and characterisation of auxetic polymers will be reviewed from a medical device perspective.

Specialty Elastomers for Medical market
Dr Anas Mujtaba, ExxonMobil

Exxpro™ Specialty Elastomers will be compared with traditional halogenated butyl rubber to demonstrate how they improve cleanliness, impermeability and sterilization performance for demanding drug packaging applications. Santoprene™ TPV will also be discussed for medical device applications as a recyclable thermoplastic elastomer, an alternative for medical device components requiring long term superior sealing characteristics, biocompatibility, fluid resistivity and part durability.