In keeping with the College of Liège, a crew of scientists has simply developed an revolutionary polymer, PHOx, which might considerably enhance the protection of implantable medical gadgets, whereas being extra environmentally pleasant.
The work has been printed within the scientific journal Superior Healthcare Supplies, and a global patent utility (WO2025082761) has already been filed.
Yearly, hundreds of thousands of sufferers obtain medical gadgets which can be inserted or implanted within the cardiovascular system, together with arterial and venous catheters, cardiac gadgets, pacemaker leads, synthetic hearts, and vascular prostheses. These gadgets, usually produced from polyurethane (PU), carry out important features, however are usually not with out defects. PU manufacturing depends on poisonous chemical compounds referred to as isocyanates, and PU can also be partly accountable for critical problems in sufferers, resembling blood clots and infections.
Confronted with these limitations, a crew from the GIGA (Cardiology Laboratory) and the CESAM (Centre de recherche sur les macromolécules – CERM) on the College of Liège has provide you with a promising different: PHOx, a thermoplastic elastomer with out isocyanate PU (NIPU), which is due to this fact much less poisonous to supply and significantly better tolerated by the human physique.
“PHOx (Poly Hydroxy-Oxazolidone) is a versatile, transformable plastic that may be moulded, pressed, spun into fibres or 3D printed,” clarify Anna Pierrard, chemist, and Christine Jérôme, Director of CERM. It will possibly thus be used to supply quite a lot of customized medical gadgets. Higher nonetheless, its manufacture relies on ‘greener’ uncooked supplies, derived particularly from carbon dioxide, decreasing the environmental impression of the method.
“In depth laboratory checks have proven that PHOx outperforms PU in a number of key respects,” mentioned Sofia Melo, bioengineer, and Cécile Oury, FNRS Analysis Director and Head of the Cardiology Laboratory on the GIGA. PHOx is extra appropriate with blood. Specifically, it reduces the adhesion of platelets (important cells within the formation of blood clots) and the activation of coagulation – limiting the dangers of clot formation. It is usually thought to inhibit the adhesion of micro organism resembling Staphylococcus aureus, which is commonly implicated in implant infections. No toxicity was noticed, both for human cells or throughout implantation, and the fabric didn’t trigger extreme irritation, degradation, or rejection.
One other main benefit of PHOx is that it may be simply 3D printed. “Which means we might ultimately produce custom-made gadgets for every affected person, decreasing waste and at decrease value,” explains Patrizio Lancellotti, Head of Cardiology at Liège College Hospital. “Tailored implants, coronary heart valves tailored to the anatomy of every particular person: the purposes are quite a few.”
Because of its mechanical (flexibility and energy) and organic (biocompatibility, compatibility with blood, and stability) properties, PHOx might effectively exchange PUs in lots of medical purposes. This can be a main step in the direction of medical gadgets which can be safer for sufferers, extra environmentally pleasant, and doubtlessly extra economical, thanks to personalized manufacturing and lowered healthcare prices related to fewer problems.
The researchers stress that that is the primary time {that a} NIPU (non-isocyanate polyurethane) materials has demonstrated such efficiency in crucial medical purposes.
