For the third week of materials month, we’ve chosen to highlight our family of extremely long-term implantable materials: Quadrasil™.
What is Quadrasil™?
Quadrasil™ is a family of thermoplastic silicone polyurethane co-polymers that exhibit the properties of both urethane and silicone. Included in this family of materials are our standard Quadrasil™ line, Elast-Eon™, and ECSil™.
The standard Quadrasil™ line of co-polymers are available in both aromatic polyether silicone thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) (Quadrasil™ ARES) and aromatic polycarbonate silicone TPU (Quadrasil™ ARCS).
The Elast-Eon™ line of co-polymers utilizes high levels of silicone and TPU to form the world’s leading biologically stable elastomer. Elast-Eon™ is available in a wide range of shore hardness.
The ECSil™ line of polycarbonate siloxane polyol co-polymers retains the class leading biological stability of Elast-Eon™ while exhibiting superior physical properties across the grade range.
“Quadrasil™ brings the medical device industry a line of co-polymers that are truly groundbreaking,” explained Sriram Venkataramani, Senior Polymer R&D Scientist at Biomerics. “In fact, the Elast-Eon™ line of co-polymers is now widely accepted as being the most biostable of all polyurethane materials. The entire Quadrasil™ family of co-polymers truly raises the bar for extremely long-term implantable materials.”
What makes Quadrasil™ unique?
“The Quadrasil™ family of co-polymers comprise some of the most unique and sought after materials on the market today,” remarked Sriram. “Due to their makeup and distinct chemical formulations, Quadrasil™ materials exhibit the benefits of both silicone and TPUs. This is important for two main reasons:
- The distinct co-polymer combination of silicone and TPUs give Quadrasil™ materials mechanical properties and biostability ratings that are unparalleled—which is one of the reasons many of the world’s leading long-term implantable device manufacturers use Quadrasil™ materials in their devices.
- Second, because of the presence of TPUs within the chemical combination, Quadrasil™ materials can be readily thermally processed using conventional equipment and technologies. This means manufacturers who are engaged in thermoplastic molding and extrusion don’t have to purchase extensive amounts of capital or new labor to create devices using Quadrasil™.
“So, as you can see, Quadrasil™ combines the long term biostability of silicone with the mechanical properties and processing versatility of TPUs. When put like that, there is no question as to why more and more companies are switching to our Quadrasil™ family of materials.”
What applications can Quadrasil™ be found in?
According to Sriram, “Engineers and designers use the Quadrasil™ family of materials to improve long-term medical device performance while reducing costs. The line of Quadrasil™ material that is selected depends on the application of the device. For instance, certain cardiac rhythm management devices (e.g. pacemakers and pacemaker leads) would benefit most from Elast-Eon™, while other devices that aren’t quite as long-term (e.g. chronic indwelling catheters and interventional cardiac devices) could utilize the standard Quadrasil™ line of co-polymers. ECSil™, on the other hand, is ideal for applications in which the device requires a very high level of mechanical performance (e.g. orthopedics and stents).
“In general, Quadrasil™ materials can be used in a wide range of device and applications, including interventional cardiac devices, neurostimulation/neuromodulation devices, long-term implantable stent coatings, chronic catheters and ports, long-term orthopedics, and other devices meant for extremely long-term implantation. There are over 2 million Elast-Eon™ based long-term implants in service today and we’re extremely proud of the Quadrasil™ family of materials and the standard they’ve set for the long-term implantable market.”
Want to learn more about the Quadrasil™ family of materials?
For more information, give us a call (1-801-895-2578), send us an email (csr@biomerics.com), or visit the Quadrasil™ section of our website where you can download product data sheets, material safety data sheets, biocompatibility guides, and our Quadra™ Family Product Guide.
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