Life-Enhancing Plastics Plastics and Other Materials in Medical Applications

Anthony Holmes-Walker1860944620, 9781860944628, 9781860945427

This book enables readers without specialist knowledge to understand the ways in which materials can be used to enhance people’s lives. The range is vast — from simple contact uses, through artificial limbs, to permanently implanted devices.
To appreciate the medical applications of materials, it is necessary to understand why they are used. Therefore, a discussion on the nature and behaviour of materials is preceded by a survey of the evolution of modern surgical techniques. The effect of “foreign” materials on the body’s immune system is then considered, followed by a study of specific uses of materials, including extra-corporeal machines and implanted devices.
The last chapter deals with new and highly sophisticated techniques — including minimal access surgery, robotics, nanotechnology, natural polymers, and the growth of “artificial” organs — and concludes with a look at the future.

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Table of contents :
Life-Enhancing Plastics: Plastics and Other Materials in Medical Applications……Page 4
Preface……Page 8
CONTENTS……Page 10
1.2. Historical Perspective……Page 14
1.2.1. The Discovery of Anaesthesia……Page 16
1.2.2. Combating Infection……Page 17
1.2.3. Shock……Page 18
1.3. Under the Knife — Surgical Specialities……Page 19
1.3.1. Neurosurgery — The Brain……Page 20
1.3.2. Vascular Surgery……Page 21
1.3.3. Operating on the Lungs and Heart……Page 22
1.3.4. The Lungs……Page 23
1.3.5. Surgery on the Lungs……Page 24
1.3.6. The Heart……Page 25
1.3.7. Heart Surgery……Page 27
1.3.9. Heart/Lung Transplantation……Page 28
1.3.10. Other Thoracic Surgery……Page 29
1.3.11. The Repair of Defective Heart Valves……Page 31
1.3.12. Liver Surgery……Page 33
1.3.13. Kidney Surgery……Page 34
1.3.14. Kidney Transplantation……Page 35
1.4. The development of Microsurgery……Page 37
1.4.2. The Application of Microsurgery……Page 38
Hand Transplantation……Page 39
1.5. Conclusion……Page 40
References……Page 41
2.2. Structure/Property Relationships in Materials……Page 42
2.2.1. Metals……Page 44
The Effect of Grain Structure……Page 45
The Introduction of a Second Phase……Page 46
2.2.2. Ceramics……Page 47
The Polymer Chain……Page 48
(a) Greater Flexibility……Page 49
(b) Enhanced Rigidity……Page 50
Molecular Architecture……Page 51
2.3. Polymers compared with other Materials……Page 54
2.4.1. Prosthetics from Earliest Times……Page 56
2.4.2. Artificial Legs and Feet……Page 58
2.4.3. Artificial Arms and Hands……Page 64
The Development of Artificial Arms and Hands……Page 65
Current Concerns……Page 70
References……Page 71
3.2.1. Early Discoveries……Page 74
3.2.2. Some Questions and Answers……Page 75
How do Lymphocytes distinguish between “Self” and “Nonself”?……Page 76
3.3.1. The Composition of Human Blood and its Circulation……Page 77
3.3.2. The Causes of Blood Damage……Page 78
3.3.3. The Blood Clotting Mechanism……Page 79
3.4.1. How the Scene has Changed……Page 80
3.4.3. Copying Nature……Page 81
References……Page 83
4.2.1. Simple Coverings……Page 84
4.2.2. Interactive Dressings……Page 85
Burns……Page 86
4.2.4. Tissue Engineering……Page 87
4.3.1. Rigid Supports……Page 88
4.3.3. Corrective Supports……Page 89
Active Supports……Page 90
4.4.2. The Introduction of Plastic Contact Lenses……Page 91
4.4.4. Gas Permeable Lenses……Page 92
4.4.6. Comparisons & Recent Developments……Page 93
4.4.7. A New Approach……Page 94
4.6. Conclusion……Page 96
References……Page 97
5.2. Catheters……Page 98
5.3. Drain Tubes……Page 100
5.4. Angioplasty Devices……Page 103
Early Dialysis Machines……Page 107
Improvements in the Design of Dialysis Machines……Page 109
Haemodialysis Systems……Page 112
5.5.2. The Heart-Lung Machine — Blood Oxygenator……Page 114
Later Developments……Page 115
References……Page 118
6.2.1. Artificial Hearts……Page 120
6.2.2. Ventricular Assist Devices……Page 124
Continuous Drive Pumping Devices……Page 125
Pulsed Drive Pumping Devices……Page 126
Non-Absorbable Sutures……Page 129
Absorbable (Resorbable) Sutures……Page 130
6.3.2. Resorbable Wound Healing Devices……Page 131
6.4.1. Traction……Page 133
6.6. Conclusion……Page 135
References……Page 136
7.2. Artificial Heart Valves……Page 138
7.2.1. The Mechanical Heart Valve……Page 139
7.2.2. Tissue Valves……Page 141
7.3. Cardiac Assist Devices — Pacemakers……Page 144
7.5.1. Breast Implants……Page 149
7.6. Dental and other Facial Implants……Page 154
7.6.1. General Dentistry……Page 155
7.6.2. New Teeth for Old — Crowns……Page 158
7.6.3. New Teeth for Old—Implants……Page 159
7.7. Reconstruction of the Jaw……Page 162
References……Page 163
8.2. Replacement Hip Joints……Page 164
8.2.1. Types of Artificial Hip Joints……Page 166
8.2.2. Factors Governing the Design of the Hip Joint……Page 168
8.3.1. Replacement Knee Joints……Page 169
8.3.2. Replacement Ankle Joints……Page 171
8.3.3. Surgery on the Bones of the Foot……Page 173
8.4.1. Replacement Shoulder Joints……Page 174
8.4.2. Replacement Elbow Joints……Page 176
8.4.3. Surgery on the Wrists and Hands……Page 177
Design……Page 179
8.5. Conclusion……Page 180
References……Page 181
9.1. Introduction……Page 182
9.2.1. The Ancient World……Page 185
9.2.2. The Next Thousand Years–(500–1500 AD)……Page 189
9.2.3. Four Hundred Years of Progress – (1600–1900 AD)……Page 191
9.2.4. The Twentieth Century……Page 193
References……Page 196
10.2. Minimally Invasive Surgery……Page 198
10.2.1. Cardiovascular Intervention……Page 199
10.2.2. Cancer Research……Page 200
10.3. The Coming of Robotics……Page 201
10.4.1. Spider Silk……Page 205
10.4.2. Artificial Muscles……Page 208
10.4.3. Nanobes and Nanofilaments……Page 210
10.5.1. General Considerations……Page 211
10.5.2. Harnessing the Mind……Page 212
10.5.3. New Materials……Page 215
10.6. Conclusion……Page 217
References……Page 218
Nanotechnology……Page 220
Index of Names……Page 222
Subject Index……Page 226