Medical Applications for Extraction Resistant PVC Compounds

Abstract

Flexible PVC has for many years provided a major contribution in the development, manufacture, and assembly of medical devices. The wealth of information available today regarding the performance of conventional PVC compounds underwrites their undoubted value, but also recognizes certain limitations. Exploiting its unique ability to accept an ever increasing range of material variables, PVC polymer systems can be engineered to extend performance boundaries. This paper identifies certain applications where the use of extraction resistance PVC compounds provides additional benefits. The properties of DEHP, TOTM and PA plasticized compounds are reviewed and the information presented includes recent data concerning extraction into biological fluids. Novel techniques developed elsewhere using in vitro and ex vivo procedures to assess the blood platelet response, immune response, and the influence of antithrombotic agents upon these compounds are reviewed with the accompanying results.