Surface Modification of Silicone for Percutaneous Implantation

In order to prevent epidermal down growth when a silicone percutaneous device was implanted, immobilization of collagen was performed onto the surface of a silicone device. The immobilization of collagen was achieved through covalent bonds between the amino groups in the collagen molecules and the carboxyl groups in poly (acrylic acid) chains grafted onto the silicone device surface. When the collagen-immobilized silicone device model was percutaneously implanted in rabbits, no sign of epidermal down growth was observed even 7 weeks after implantation, while the epidermis reached down to the deep part of the dermis as early as 3 weeks after implantation when collagen was not immobilized onto the device model surface. To have tighter fixation of the device models to the surrounding dermal tissue, the silicone device model was covered with a polyethylene sponge having an average interconnecting pore size of 150 microns. Collagen immobilization was also performed onto the sponge surface. Both the collagen-immobilized silicone device models as well as the non-treated models with polyethylene sponge were percutaneously implanted in rabbits and epidermal down growth as well as the occurrence of bacterial infection was examined. Without collagen immobilization onto the sponge surface of the device model, bacterial infection was noticed as early as 2 weeks after the implantation. The number of infected device models increased as the implantation time became longer and bacterial infection was observed in six out of seven device models at the 10th week post implantation. When the sponge surface was immobilized with collagen, bacterial infection was noticed in only one model at the 5th week after implantation. Six out of seven implanted device models with collagen immobilization were free of bacterial infection until the animals were sacrificed 30 weeks after implantation.