Development Prospects of Medical Silicone

With increasing attention to food safety and medical hygiene in each country, especially to the strict requirements for silicone products related to human body, food, and medicine, medical silicone has been recognized by the medical community after decades of clinical applications, and its application is becoming more and more widespread. Many companies regard medical silicone rubber as their main development target, and have made great progress. The following is a sharing of the development prospects of medical silicone rubber.

In addition to meeting the basic requirements of medical high polymer materials, silicone rubber also has characteristics such as heat resistance, cold resistance, non-toxicity, biological aging resistance, minimal reaction to human tissues, and good physical and mechanical properties. It has become a typical medical high polymer material and is widely used in the field of medical and health care and biomedical engineering. Among numerous medical high polymer materials, silicone rubber occupies a leading position in terms of quantity and variety.

Medical Silicone Catheter

Medical catheters are the fastest-growing and most widely used products in medical silicone rubber. They can be divided into in-body and out-body according to their uses. Out-body catheters mainly include various pump tubes, such as artificial heart-lung machine pump tubes, connection tubes for various instruments, infusion tubes, etc. Catheters and drainage tubes of various types are used for in-body purposes. At present, the development trend of medical silicone rubber catheters for human body is miniaturization, thin-walling, multi-cavity, and one-tube multi-functionalization. Especially for indwelling catheters, whether for long-term or short-term use, the advantages of silicone rubber material and catheters are incomparable to other materials.

Neurosurgical Medical Silicone Products

The silicone rubber products used in neurosurgery mainly include: artificial cranium, silicon-titanium composite repair materials, cerebrospinal fluid shunt devices, ventricular drainage tubes, artificial cerebral membrane. At present, the artificial cerebral membrane made of silicone rubber and nylon fabric has been developed and can be used to repair traumatic dural defects or dural or spinal defects caused by the base or infiltration zone of the brain tumor resection.

Otolaryngological Medical Silicone Products

The silicone rubber products used in otolaryngology include: artificial nose bridge, artificial chin, mandible, artificial ear, artificial larynx, middle ear ventilation tube, lacrimal duct probing device, lacrimal duct plug, nasal stent, snoring device, nasal cavity hemostatic balloon, artificial respiratory machine wave tube, tracheotomy cannula, etc. Currently, silicone rubber has been widely used in cosmetic surgery and reconstruction operations, which can be applied to repair various parts of the face, internal organs, chest, joints, etc.

Cardiovascular Medical Silicone Products

The medical silicone products for cardiovascular are mainly composed of extracorporeal circulation machine pump tubes, chest drainage tubes, artificial pulmonary silicone membrane, and artificial spherical mitral valve.

Digestive System Medical Silicone Products

Gastric tubes, duodenal tubes, double-lumen intestinal tubes, nutrition tubes, gastric decompression tubes, gastric fistula tubes, gastric lavage tubes, enema syringes, etc. Previously, these products mainly used polyvinyl chloride materials. With the decrease in the production cost of silicone rubber and the more ideal flexibility and elasticity of silicone rubber products, silicone rubber products have begun to replace polyvinyl chloride products on a large scale.

Abdominal Surgery and Reproductive System Medical Silicone Products

The silicone rubber products used in abdominal surgery mainly include: peritoneal dialysis tubes, abdominal drainage tubes, T-tubes, Y-tubes, TY-tubes, capillary drainage tubes, porous drainage tubes, negative pressure drainage devices, anti-adhesion membranes, etc. The applications in the reproductive system are even more diverse, mainly including various catheters, fistula tubes, penile prostheses, artificial testicles, fetal suction devices, uterine hot ball therapy devices, silicone rubber contraceptives, subcutaneous implantable contraceptives, etc.

Medical silicone rubber is widely used in the medical field, but due to the differences in production technology and raw materials among manufacturers, medical-grade silicone products must achieve certain standards in actual applications to ensure the safety and effectiveness of product use. This includes the tensile strength and tear strength in physical properties, pH value changes and UV absorption in chemical properties, and most importantly, indicators such as thermal source, hemolysis rate, and cytotoxicity in biological performance requirements.