Tensistat, a water-loving biomedical material
A key factor fuelling the biomedical industry is the increasing prevalence of diseases. Rising acute and chronic diseases, including cardiovascular, neurological, orthopaedic, and respiratory diseases, combined with the increasing demand for more advanced and personalised treatment are significantly boosting medical device sales in the marketplace. Resilient thermoplastic materials will play a vital role in the production of high-quality medical devices. The rising demand for thermoplastics “The global market size for thermoplastic materials in biomedicine is expected to have a value of EUR 27 billion by 2025. The market will be subject to substantial growth during the forecast period due to the growing demand for polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene,” notes Jacques Jonsman, founder of medical device company Jonnin. Increasing awareness about human propensity for poor biological interactions to devices, the door has been opened for hydrophilic and hydrophobic coating formulations to help minimise complications. Unlike hydrophilic coatings that have a special affinity to water, hydrophobic materials repel water and demonstrate a preference for contacting air or gas, or other hydrophobic particles. Until now, little headway has been made regarding the development of hydrophilic coatings, which are highly needed in specific applications. Obtaining hydrophilicity involves the additional step of surface treatment, which increases the final production cost of the device. Filling a market gap With EU funding of the project HydroPLAST, Danish company Jonnin has sealed this unmet gap in the marketplace. “Our new thermoplastic polymer called Tensistat creates truly hydrophilic surfaces right after injection moulding or extrusion. Just like other thermoplastic materials, Tensistat can be used in a variety of applications. However, our main focus was on developing a polymer for biomedical applications where hydrophilicity is mandatory to ensure biocompatibility. Examples include single-use medical devices – diagnostic consumables, tubing injectors, catheters and microfluidic devices,” outlines Jonsman. Tensistat does not involve any post-processing to acquire its hydrophilic properties. This translates to cheaper, safer and more reliable biomedical devices. With water contact angles ranging between 15 and 25 degrees, the material creates surfaces with highly desirable properties – fast and stable capillary flow, air bubble prevention, wettability and printability. Despite the large number of treatment efforts to render hydrophilicity to polymer surfaces, it does not last for a very long time. Thanks to the HydroPLAST initiative, devices made from Tensistat will have a long service life, maintaining their hydrophilic properties for over 10 years.
Keywords
HydroPLAST, hydrophilic, Tensistat, biomedical, hydrophobic, polymer, thermoplastic material, biomedicine
