16 - Implantable medical devices by using textile materials

Abstract

Medical implantable devices are highly sophisticated. Therefore, the physicochemical properties of any implant device or material play an important role in terms of acceptance or rejection by the body. The important physicochemical properties of raw materials for designing of any medical device are surface wettability, surface functional group, surface charge, and surface topology. Textile materials are highly suitable for designing the implantable device due to the presence of all these four properties required it. However, natural textile fibers may promote the activation and adsorption of plasma protein, including coagulation factor XII, HMWK (high-molecular-weight kininogen), and prekallikrein, leading to blood clotting and other tissue reaction. Synthetic textile fiber has a high affinity to bind protein tightly, which leads to increased foreign body reactions as well as increased adhesion to viscera. Therefore, the selection of fiber for implantable biomaterial depends upon specific application environment as well as its requirement.