Improvement of polydimethylsiloxane guide tube for nerve regeneration treatment by carbon negative-ion implantation

Abstract

Modification of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) rubber by negative ion-implantation was investigated for improvement of nerve regeneration property. The PDMS rubber surface was found to have more hydrophilic property after carbon negative-ion implantation than before. At the conditions of 10 keV and 3.0 × 10 15 ions/cm 2, the contact angle decreased to 83° from 100°. The reason of the hydrophilic modification is due to hydrophilic functional groups such as hydroxyl formed at the surface by radiation effect of ion implantation. The in vivo regeneration test of rat sciatic nerve was performed by using 18-mm-long PDMS rubber tubes with inner diameter of 2 mm, the inner surface of which was implanted with carbon negative ions at the above conditions. At 24 weeks after the clinical surgery, the sciatic nerve was regenerated through the tube between the proximal and distal nerve stumps.