Hello,
I am not familiar with the materials at all. But I came across an
application in which I have to put an elecronic device into a RAT for
biology experiments. I need to seal this electronic device woth some
material which can protect it from water. I read the news on BBC that
swedish navy used carbon fiber reinforced plastic for their new
submarines. I was wonerding that Can I use that material to encapsulate
the device. I do not know about the biocaompatibilty aspects of carbon
fiber reinforced plastic too. Can somebody advice me
1. can I use this material.
2. are there any more options
Thanks
Regards
John
Inside the animal? As in an implant?
You would only use carbon fiber reinforcement for
certain high-stress applications. Presumably,
an implant would not be subject to high stress,
unless it was something like a tooth replacement
or a bone joint replacement.
The question of the reinforcement is separate from
the selection of the polymer. Silicones are widely
used for implants.
Hi,
Yes, as an implant. My task is to protect the device completely from
water or blood for a long period like months or years like protecting
the crew people of submarine from sea water. Does lack of stress make
this material improper to use in the RAT?
Some people do adviced me that silicone and other traditional material
used in the implanatable field do not last long like for months or
years. I am more concern with the leaking of the water into the
electronic device. Does this material provide excellect protection
against water or blood. Does it corrode with time?
Please advice and be patient with me.
John
No, but there's no reason to use it either.
Carbon fiber is a reinforcing filler, not the
polymer matrix. You could add carbon fiber
to just about any polymer, but it would only
make sense when the resulting material is
subject to high stress.
A properly designed silicone material will
last for years. It is very inert, and will
not degrade. That is why it is used for
implants.
Silicone does not have high strength, but
if it's not being stretched, crushed, or
abraded, that might not matter. There are
other reinforcing fillers which can be used
to increase the strength of a silicone
material. Silica is most commonly used.
You could consult a patent database for
examples of encapsulants used for implants.
Here's the search page for U.S. patents:
formatting link
Try searching for:
spec/"biocompatible polymer"
That will get 1482 hits.
If you believe that submarine use of materials is an excellent
qualification, then read below......
formatting link
Seawolf is the first American attack submarine to use a hull made
entirely of high-pressure HY-100 steel -- previous sumarines used HY80
steel. HY-100 steel was first used in submarines in the early 1960s in
the Navy's deep-diving SEA CLIFF and TURTLE,, which were capable of
reaching depths in excess of 10,000 feet. More recently, the Moray, an
advanced conventional submarine designed by the Dutch shipyard R.D.M.
(Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij B.V), incorporated HY-100 steel to
achieve an operational diving depth of 300 meters, and an incidental
diving depth of 360 meters.
Submarine hull materials are selected to withstand seawater and great
pressures. This doesn't have much to do with your application.
Just research what everybody else is doing to encapsulate electronic
devices for implantation, and pick one of those that meets your
needs...whatever they are.
There is a long track record of biological encapsulation of electronic
devices .... and metals or polymers have been selected for various reasons.
Just look at what others have done that is remotely like your
application, and consider those as your primary "pick list". Then your
budget or ability to work with the different materials or vendors will
narrow it down some more.
Medical grade silicones are probably reasonably cheap, easy to get, you
can get lots of help from manufacturers.... and there may be some of the
stuff lying around your establishment already.
There are other medical grade polymers, but what is special about your
application that may need one material rather than another>
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.