Selection,Characterization, and Biodegradation of Surgical Epoxies

A series of epoxy resins has been formulated on the basis of obtaining low water sorption, low water vapor permeability, retention of electrical properties, and resistance to biodegradation by the body. These resins have been tested for these properties both by accelerated aging in 100°C water and in vivo studies.

A literature survey was conducted on the biodegradation of surgical plastics with the findings that nylon lost 80% of its tensile strength after 3 years implantation while Orlon and Dacron deteriorated considerably less in a 2-year period. Teflon, Mastic, and Mylar showed almost no loss in tensile strength after 17 to 22 months.

The epoxies tested on this program showed no loss in strength after 6 months in vivo.

It appears that materials whose chemical structure contain bonds similar to those found in the body (such as amide groups) are susceptible to biodegradation whereas those such as Teflon which contain only C-C bonds or C-F bonds are not.

Two general types of biodegradation can occur on polymers: Attack starting at the end of a polymer chain and proceeding along the chain to produce monomeric fragments (as in polypropylene), and attack at regular intervals along a polymer chain where susceptible cross-linking groups are present to produce macromolecular fragments.

It has been postulated that attack on polymers takes place in the amorphous areas (if they are present) to leave the more crystalline areas of the material intact. Thus, with implantation, these types of materials become brittle.

Histology on the developed epoxies indicated that epoxies containing nonreactive hydrophobic diluents showed a greater foreign body reaction than normal epoxies without such diluents.