Radiopaque poly(ε-caprolactone) as additive for X-ray imaging of temporary implantable medical devices

• Published in: RSC advances 2015-01, Vol.5 (102), p.84125-84133
• Main Authors: Samuel, Remi, Girard, Edouard, Chagnon, Gregory, Dejean, Stephane, Favier, Denis, Coudane, Jean, Nottelet, Benjamin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Additives; Blends; Chemical Sciences; Fibroblasts; Material chemistry; Medical devices; Polymer blends; Thermal properties; Visibility; X-rays
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/c5ra19488a

Implantable polymeric medical devices suffer from a lack of visibility under current clinical imaging techniques. To circumvent this problem, poly( epsilon -caprolactone-co- alpha -triiodobenz oate- epsilon -caprolactone)s (PCL-TIB) containing from 3.5% to 24% of triiodobenzoate- epsilon -caprolactone units were synthesized as new X-ray macromolecular contrast agents. Physico-chemical and thermal properties of PCL-TIBs were evaluated by super(1)H NMR, SEC, DSC and TGA. Their potential as radio-opacifying additive for medical devices was evaluated by preparing polymeric blends of PCL-TIB with various (co)polyesters. At first, in vitro X-ray visibility of PCL/PCL-TIB blends was evaluated. A more in depth characterization was then carried out based on PCL/PLA sub(50)-PEG-PLA sub(50) blends. The impact of PCL-TIB content on the mechanical properties of blends was evaluated by tensile tests. Stability of X-ray visibility was evaluated by ex vivo implantation of non-degraded blends and of blends degraded for 6 weeks in vitro. Finally, cytocompatibility was assessed by evaluating the proliferation of L929 fibroblasts on the blends.