Which silicone materials are suitable for medical grade applications?

Solid type medical silicone rubber is one of the most widely used silicone materials in the medical field. It can replace bone or cartilage as a tissue filling or scaffold material, thus making it possible to create artificial joints and tendons to repair defects in limb joints and tendons. In addition, it can also be used as a plastic surgery material to repair deformities and defects in the face, ears, nose, and other areas. Silicone rubber has good biocompatibility, is non irritating, non-toxic, and has no allergic reactions to human tissues, and has minimal body rejection reactions. At the same time, it also has good physical and chemical properties, and can maintain its original elasticity and softness when in contact with body fluids and tissues, without being degraded, making it a relatively stable inert substance. Capable of withstanding high temperatures, disinfectable, easy to process and shape, easy to carve shapes, and convenient to use.

Foam type medical silicone rubber can replace human adipose tissue and be used to repair human facial subcutaneous tissue defects, such as hemifacial atrophy. It also has good biocompatibility and physicochemical properties, ensuring long-term safe use in the human body.

Liquid medical silicone rubber, also known as silicone oil, is a low viscosity transparent liquid. It can be easily filled into the depressed and deformed areas of the craniofacial region through injection, which is very convenient to use and can be quickly molded without hospitalization, greatly reducing the pressure on patients. In addition, liquid medical silicone rubber can also be used to make medical equipment such as hydrocephalus drainage devices.

The main production materials for medical silicone tubing include TPE PTFE、 Polyurethane, nylon, polyvinyl chloride, polypropylene, polyether ketone, etc. The silicone tubes made of these materials have excellent biocompatibility and physicochemical properties, which can meet the requirements of the medical field for sterility, non toxicity, corrosion resistance, aging resistance and other performance. Especially PTFE material, due to its low friction coefficient, can reduce friction with blood vessels and prevent damage, thus it has been widely used in medical silicone tubes.

In addition to the common medical grade silicone materials mentioned above, there are also other special types of silicone materials widely used in the medical field. For example, high-purity two-component room temperature silicone gel is a medical silicone gel catalyzed by platinum or peroxide, which has the characteristics of non-toxic, odorless, physiologically inert, and resistant to biological aging. It is suitable for medical applications such as human implantation. In addition, there are some silicone materials specifically used for making medical devices such as artificial heart valves, artificial lungs, bone adhesives, and artificial skin.