Silicone biomaterials

Silicone polymers are of relatively recent invention and commercial production was started in the 1940´s. Shortly thereafter it was found that glass surfaces treated with silicone fluid delayed the clotting of blood. By the mid-1950s medical applications of silicones had greatly increased and many studies of the biological properties of these materials were undertaken. Silicones are one of the most widely used and one of the most studied of all artificial materials for medical applications and no discussion of biomaterials is complete without their inclusion. This paper gives an overview of silicone chemistry including synthesis, types and curing mechanisms, followed by a review of some of the more important biomedical applications of these materials