Oh that sounds interesting. But that glass isn't biosafe glass and its way to thin for standard stresses I would think. Still, it's a start in the right direction.
In terms of using this for something like a finger magnet.. non-optimal imo. The glass is far thicker than the micron thick stuff like the M31 or even parylene C. Also, it moves.. thus click. click. click. Inside your finger clicking until madness occurs.
Has anyone looked into ceramics at all? I know they are used a lot in medical implants due to the 'relative' bio-inertness and aside from being brittle are probably strong enough for non-load bearing applications like coating magnets. Dunno how they are made though so if they would mess up the magnets at all.
TiN, Titanium Nitride, is a ceramic. It is the current 'Standard' for magnets, next to Parylene, which should be considered the 'temporary' counterpart for a safe magnet to be implanted.
I know this is an old thread but I wanted to discuss a few ideas I’ve had for improving magnet coating biocompatability. I am studying biomedical engineering and chemistry and have access to a good number of chemicals in my lab.
An easy option would be to take the D1005A Parylene-C coated magnet and coat with polyethylene glycol. PEG’s biocompatibility has been thoroughly researched and it is also extremely hydrophobic, which would minimize foreign body response leading to magnet rejection. This double coating would minimize the risk of pin-hole related rejection, can be applied thinly and without heating, which would retain magnetic strength, and is also cost conservative. Research indicates that it functions well in combination with Parylene-C and stands the test of time. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1607551X11002397)
Alternatively, the same Parylene-C coated magnets could be coated with SiO2 which would show the same benefits- low heat bonding, inexpensive, and a thin layer of durable, biocompatible material. This would also open the possibility of cloning a silaffin R5 tag on, which would catalyze silica formation and essentially act as a self-repairing coating. I’m not sure whether this would remain localized on the implant, but I worked with an R5 modified protein previously for immobilization and saw great results. (http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0960-1317/21/3/035011/pdf)
One final option- though this I would not be able to do with my resources- would be to coat a magnet in TiN and follow with an additional coating of Parylene-C.
As a side note, silver should not be used as a coating. The reason why silver is antimicrobial is because it is toxic. A very thin coating would not cause any lasting harm, but it also would not be a permanent coating and would inevitably expose the body to the neodymium.
Comments
I know this is an old thread but I wanted to discuss a few
ideas I’ve had for improving magnet coating biocompatability. I am studying biomedical engineering and
chemistry and have access to a good number of chemicals in my lab.
An easy option would be to take the D1005A Parylene-C coated
magnet and coat with polyethylene glycol.
PEG’s biocompatibility has been thoroughly researched and it is also
extremely hydrophobic, which would minimize foreign body response leading to
magnet rejection. This double coating
would minimize the risk of pin-hole related rejection, can be applied thinly and
without heating, which would retain magnetic strength, and is also cost
conservative. Research indicates that it
functions well in combination with Parylene-C and stands the test of time. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1607551X11002397)
Alternatively, the same Parylene-C coated magnets could be
coated with SiO2 which would show the same benefits- low heat bonding,
inexpensive, and a thin layer of durable, biocompatible material. This would also open the possibility of
cloning a silaffin R5 tag on, which would catalyze silica formation and
essentially act as a self-repairing coating.
I’m not sure whether this would remain localized on the implant, but I
worked with an R5 modified protein previously for immobilization and saw great
results. (http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0960-1317/21/3/035011/pdf)
One final option- though this I would not be able to do with
my resources- would be to coat a magnet in TiN and follow with an additional
coating of Parylene-C.
As a side note, silver should not be used as a coating. The reason why silver is antimicrobial is
because it is toxic. A very thin coating
would not cause any lasting harm, but it also would not be a permanent coating
and would inevitably expose the body to the neodymium.
Any thoughts and input is much appreciated!