A call for new magnet implant inventors and innovators

Darren

share your ideas and things you have tried as alternative coatings for magnets. Keeping in mind biocompatibility and safety

glims

fixed charge polymer, surface grated via atrp. it honestly is the best thing out there. it's just... a bit experimental and requires a real lab to do. but since we're brainstorming....

Darren

thats excellent you are doing these experiments! thats how true pioneers start, not in some lab but through trial and error. what polymer are you working with? There are certain polymers current implant experts reccomend above others for biocompatibility. The problem is does the atrp process involve heat? Remember the neodymium looses magnetism at a certain temp, but perhaps can be remagnetised after coating. Sounds good though!

glims

the atrp would be photoinitiated, so no heat required. of course, a fictionalization step might be required, but that would most likely be acid based...

The polymer is carboxybetaine methylacrylate (CBMA).

here's a link to a write up on it. actually kind of funny, i didn't know kursweil's blog had an article about the lab i work at...

http://www.kurzweilai.net/engineered-biomaterial-prevents-bodys-attack-on-medical-implants

Darren

@glims just read that article thanks! CBMA looks promising! Do you know how ressistant it is to stress/pressure? How would it fair in a high impact area such as a finger? To what degree would this new hydro gel expand once in the finger?
Exciting stuff bro!

Darren

Also, been reading up on DLC ( Diamon Like Carbon) coatings. The coating is biocompatible, inert and impermeable. Diamond is the hardest substance on earth.

glims

the mechanical and swelling properties of your polymer depend on the ratio of crosslinker to monomer you use. ideally you presoak your polymer before you implant it, so remaining swelling would not be an issue.

i just coated some silk mesh with hydrogel to be used for implant testing. i'll let you know how that ends up.

for something more robust tho, we used a pdms-cbma diblock copolymer that was able to be mixed into silicon. the anti fouling properties were off the chart, and the mechanical properties remained the same as standard medical silicon.

i am always a little iffy about putting very hard objects into ones body. while they may be very robust, your body is not something that would be classified as a very hard object. this means that you can sometimes have issues as the object you put in is not forgiving enough.  usually with magnets, they are small enough that it doesn't matter, but that doesn't mean that it isnt a concern.