RSS FeedPara-chloro-xylene sculptured thin films are bioactive
Category: Faculty and Staff News
Posted by: sxc1
on Aug 30, 2006
A team of materials science and medical researchers from the Pennsylvania State University, US, has shown that chiral sculptured thin films (STFs) made of para-chloro-xylene (commercially known as parylene-C) are both biocompatible and bioactive. The scientists grew these nanostructured materials using a one-step combination of physical and chemical vapour deposition techniques, without using lithography or any masking technique.
Using scanning electron and confocal laser microscopies, Demirel et al. found that parylene STFs support fibroblast cell attachment and proliferation over 72-hour periods, far in excess of flat parylene films. These and other findings appear in Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part B - Applied Biomaterials (doi 10.1002/jbm.b.30656).
Fibrous integration is crucial to the stability of silicone elastomer arthroplasty of small joints of the hand and feet. These implants currently fail because of soft tissue imbalance and lack of implant integration. Of all the various biomaterials available for reconstruction of the finger joints, elastomeric implants are the "gold standard" within the surgical community. The use of parylene STFs to modify elastomeric prosthetic surfaces appears enticing in light of the Penn State findings. Augmenting fibrous integration of the elastomeric implants will invariably lead to a more durable arthroplasty and a better clinical outcome.
Contact
Melik Demirel and Akhlesh Lakhtakia
212 EES Building
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802,
US
Tel: +1 814 865 4523, +1 814 863 2270
E-mail: axl4@psu.edu
Web site: http://www.esm.psu.edu/~axl4/
Date announced: 30 Aug 2006
Source: nanotechweb.org: http://nanotechweb.org/yournews/13266
Using scanning electron and confocal laser microscopies, Demirel et al. found that parylene STFs support fibroblast cell attachment and proliferation over 72-hour periods, far in excess of flat parylene films. These and other findings appear in Journal of Biomedical Materials Research: Part B - Applied Biomaterials (doi 10.1002/jbm.b.30656).
Fibrous integration is crucial to the stability of silicone elastomer arthroplasty of small joints of the hand and feet. These implants currently fail because of soft tissue imbalance and lack of implant integration. Of all the various biomaterials available for reconstruction of the finger joints, elastomeric implants are the "gold standard" within the surgical community. The use of parylene STFs to modify elastomeric prosthetic surfaces appears enticing in light of the Penn State findings. Augmenting fibrous integration of the elastomeric implants will invariably lead to a more durable arthroplasty and a better clinical outcome.
Contact
Melik Demirel and Akhlesh Lakhtakia
212 EES Building
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA 16802,
US
Tel: +1 814 865 4523, +1 814 863 2270
E-mail: axl4@psu.edu
Web site: http://www.esm.psu.edu/~axl4/
Date announced: 30 Aug 2006
Source: nanotechweb.org: http://nanotechweb.org/yournews/13266