Tissue reactions to subcutaneously implanted, surface‐modified silicones

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To evaluate the influence of surface properties on tissue reactions, the surface of a medical-grade silicone elastomer was modified without changing the bulk properties. Surface modifications employed were oxidation by corona discharge in air, graft polymerization of watersoluble monomers, coating a polysaccharide through polyion complex formation, and covalent immobilization of cell-adhesive proteins. Surface-modified silicone sheets were implanted in the subcutaneous tissue of rats, and tissue reactions such as infiltration of inflammatory cells, appearance of foreign-body giant cells, and collagenous capsule formation were studied. It was found that the thickness of collagenous capsules formed after 16 weeks' implantation was in the range of 85–95 μm for the nontreated ones and all the modified silicones except the acrylic acid-grafted and the collagen-immobilized silicones. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.