The Material of Choice for Medical Device Manufacturing Amir Mohammed Alsharabasy * Department of Radiation Biology, National Center for Radiation Research and Technology, Cairo, Egypt * Corresponding author: Alsharabasy AM, Department of Radiation Biology, National Center for Radiation Research and Technology, Cairo, Egypt, Tel: 00447470132989; E-mail: Alamier@Ymail.com Received date: December 19, 2017; Accepted date: January 02, 2018; Published date: January 08, 2018. Copyright: © 2018 Alsharabasy AM. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Commentary Te medtech sales have been improved since 2015, with around 5% annual increase in the medical devices and technology globally. Tere are expectations for such growth, which was $370 billion in 2015 to reach $530 billion in 2022 [1]. Diferent medical devices are designed for the treatment of diferent organs (e.g., lung, neurons, skin, heart and bones), drug delivery, diagnostics and in the designing of surgical devices. However, there is still a long journey for creating the materials which can achieve the optimal properties for [1] the repairing of each organ, [2] providing the optimum condition for the delivery of diferent therapeutic molecules, whether this is locally or systemically, [3] giving the most accurate results for diagnosis as well as [4] providing the ideal properties for using in minimally invasive surgeries. Tere are diferent classifcations of the bioactive materials: organic and inorganic, amorphous and crystalline, macromolecules and materials with simple structures, and natural and synthetic materials. Tese include polymers, plastics materials, metals, ceramics and glasses. Taking the latter two classes as examples; although they have proven efciency for using as bone implants, coatings, fllers and in dentistry [2-4], their usage in sof tissue repair has started as well, but still in the primary stages of development [5,6]. Choosing the Right Material for Medical Device Designing For the designing of a medical device, each composing material should have certain characteristics, which should be in a harmony with the fnal properties of the medical device as well the target application. Te manufacturing companies take into consideration the following criteria as bases for choosing each material towards their targeted applications [7]: • Te frst criterion is the availability of the material in sufcient quantities for the mass production of the device to meet the market needs. • Te second one is the fexibility of the material towards a targeted design, where the material can be needed in diferent forms (e.g., flaments, fbers, nanoparticles, etc.). For instance, the fexibility can be achieved using certain types of polymers, which can be processed as fbers, nano fbers, hydrogels, etc. towards certain application [8,9]. Te usage of bioactive ceramics or glasses can be the best choice for others, especially in bone applications, which require implantation of rigid structures [10-12]. Moreover, bioactive glass-based fbers can be also designed for bone grafing [13,14], and drug delivery [15]. • Te third criterion is the material cost. Tis includes the costs of production, transportation, and amounts required for each device. However, on deciding the best material from this point of view, a general look at the true lifecycle costs is essential. For instance, the melting-quenching technique for bioactive glass synthesis requires higher temperatures and energy than the sol-gel method; however, the costs of chemicals used in the latter method are to somewhat higher [16]. • Te fourth criterion depends on the matching between the material properties and the required specifcations of the designed device. For instance, certain polymers with certain properties are suitable for wound healing applications, and sof tissue repair; while the usage of metals is efcient for bone healing. However, through the recent improvements in the bio ceramics/glasses design and modifcation, they have found diferent applications. In fact, this is the most important factor which the biomaterials researchers concentrate on. However, the other criteria should be taken into account as well, especially for the further shifing to the industrial production stage to guarantee the productivity of the fnal medical devices. • Te ffh criterion is the choosing of the trusted/certifed materials for the medical applications. Although the stage of research for fnding and optimizing the properties of the material is essential for the development of medical devices industry, this criterion may be of importance for shortening the period required for the device approval. • Te sixth criterion is the biocompatibility of the fnally designed device, as well as its components. It can be considered one of the most important factors for selecting the material, where the formation of any harmful products following the usage of the device will lead to its failure [17]. Moreover, according to the type of the device and its application, the sterilization method, as well as the storage conditions, which can guarantee its optimum biocompatibility, can be decided [18,19]. Te biocompatibilities of the diferent composing materials before and afer processing are assessed under certain protocols. Although the degradation products of some biomaterials (e.g., synthetic polymers and metals) in the body may induce some immune reactions and device rejection may happen in severe cases, four main options can solve these problems. Te frst one is the combination of the polymer with a compatible material, so the severity of such reactions can be reduced, especially if the outcome using this polymer is desirable [20,21]. Te second option involves the further purifcation of the polymer before using in the device manufacturing [22,23]. Te third option is to replace it by another compatible polymer, or other inorganic material which can provide similar mechanical properties and outcomes. Te last option is the coating of the material (e.g., metal) with a biocompatible material (e.g., bioactive ceramic/glass), so the compatibility can be improved [24,25]. Moreover, the compatibility of the device is tested, but this stage may take a long time for validation of the sterilization efcacy and confrmation of compatibility. J o u r n a l o f C l i n i c al R e s e a r c h Journal of Clinical Research Alsharabasy, J Clin Res 2018, 2:1 Commentary Open Access J Clin Res, an open access journal Volume 2 • Issue 1 • 1000101