Abstract
Orthotic and prosthetic materials should have good mechanical and antibacterial properties. Therefore, in our study, we consider four common foamed closed-cells and two solid polymeric materials regarding their mechanical behaviour and tendency for bacterial adhesion. For all materials, the surface roughness, hydrophobicity, zeta potential, tensile properties, hardness and CIE color parameters were measured. We found that foamed polymeric materials have higher roughness, higher hydrophobicity, lower Young’s modulus, lower maximum tensile strength and lower hardness than solid materials. Bacterial adhesion test measurements based on observation by scanning electron microscopy show much a lower adhesion extent of S. aureus on solid materials than on foamed materials. The measured biophysical properties could be the key data for users to select the optimal materials.
Highlights
Six different polymeric materials commonly used in prosthetics and orthotics were selected in this study (Table 1)
This study shows that solid materials minimize bacterial adhesion and improve the comfort of users
We showed that the highest bacterial adhesion was on closed-cell polymer materials
Summary
Due to high demand for light and durable materials in orthotics and prosthetics in the last 60 years there has been great technological progress. Many new materials with mechanical properties suitable for orthotics and prosthetics use have been developed. The new polymer materials led to revolutionary advances that enabled greater durability and strength as well as more cosmetic improvements. Polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) are semi-crystalline polymers and the most often polymers used in many fields of industry. They are known as polymers with desired properties, for example low density, recyclability, quite high thermal stability, and good chemical resistivity [1]. Kennedy et al [4] showed how the tensile properties of the linear PE depend on its structural factors, while Amjadi et al [5]
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