Biomedical Surfaces
Plasma applications
Compatibility with the biological host, cleanliness and intrinsic reliability are all crucially affected by surface properties of materials used inside the body or in contact with skin surfaces for prostheses, implants or drug delivery. Plasma processing is a low temperature technology that enables surfaces, especially polymer surfaces to be prepared or modified in a controlled, clean and precise way. Cleaning, etching, polymerised coatings and chemical or mechanical modification or enhancement are achieved without substrate heating, surface damage or any undesirable secondary oxidation.
Plasmas' ability to produce high levels of sterility opens up new opportunities for bioengineering with plastics and other materials that melt at low temperatures or cannot withstand autoclaving, the aggressive environments of ethylene oxide or gamma irradiation.
Plasma processing offers a whole new set of techniques suitable for a range of medical devices:
Polymer and composite surfaces used in prostheses such as knee and hip joints.
Delicate fabrics such as wicks to draw blood or other body fluids into sensors, for example, blood glucose sensors .
Wound-care materials such as polyurethane film and foams and medical gauze.
Drug-delivery systems such as inhalers and other items such as stents for cardiac care and fabric stents used to repair aneurysms can be made more biocompatible or safely enhanced to meet desired performance levels.
Plasma technologies now provide practical and well-understood processes that pave the way for new advances in biocompatible surface treatments for polymers, ceramics and metals.
The latest plasma processing units provide automatic, verifiable logging and tracking of every aspect of treatment, including designated operator interaction, if required. Systems track process parameters and operator actions on a batch by batch basis so ensuring full traceability and establishing the audit trail thus meeting cGMP standards.
Applications of plasma processing
Tecvac coatings provide low friction, wear resistant and biocompatible surfaces