Composite Materials in Medical Technology

Bioengineers looking for higher-performance materials to make their medical devices out of have turned to their fellow aerospace engineers for some assistance. In the aerospace industry the cutting-edge material to design aircraft with are composite materials like carbon fiber. The composites are lightweight materials known for their strength and stiffness. The characteristics of these composites are the same desired properties for medical purposes, things like orthopedic devices, implants and surgical instruments.

Consisting of organic polymers infused with fibers made from carbon or glass to add strength, these devices have attributes far out performing conventional metallic alloys used in orthopedic procedures. For instance metallic alloys tend to be very dense while the composites are extremely light yet out perform the metals in their tensile strength. Another important feature concerning medical devices implanted in the body is corrosion. Because of the organic materials in these composites, they are extremely resistant to corrosion, which means that the device will not break down or weaken while in the body. Along with these two aspects, composites have a host of other exceptionally beneficial characteristics. One such characteristic is the hypoallergenic properties of composites. Because these materials are not made form metallic alloys there is no chance that metal ions could be absorbed into the tissue and cause allergic reactions. Another highly favorable quality of these materials is in the design aspects. Devices made from composites can be customized to match the exact mechanical properties of the bone and joint system they are attached to, allowing for the bone to remain strong and not be broken down by the body due to a lack of mechanical loading. Finally these new materials are extremely helpful to doctors because x-rays can penetrate them, or at least to the same degree of most tissues, allowing doctors to more accurately interpret the images. It is easy to see why some many doctors and bioengineers are interested in designing new devices and tools from these materials; the one hurdle they must overcome is the price.

The relative cost of devices made from composite materials is much higher than conventional materials. It seems that making the materials is where all the money goes, rather than in the case of metallic alloys where the main cost is in the device’s design and inspection. Some engineers believe that given more time to let these materials take over a larger chunk of the market, the whole production process will become more cost efficient by assembly line automation.

I found the article very intriguing because I’ve seen the use of composites like carbon fiber in high performance machines, like aircraft and Formula 1 racecars before and thought how naturally it could make for very strong and light prosthetic devices. Although this article didn’t talk about the use of the composites in prosthesis and the may be a ways off, but I definitely anticipate the arrival. This is a great step to the direction of better longer lasting orthopedic devices that I hope to be apart of designing.

Source: http://www.emdt.co.uk/article/aerospace-inner-space-composite-materials-medical-technology