Читать книгу Materials for Biomedical Engineering - Mohamed N. Rahaman - Страница 39

With the introduction of plastics (synthetic polymers) in the early twentieth century and, as materials designed for use in World War II became more widely available, the first few decades following the World War II saw a rapid growth in the use of synthetic materials as biomaterials. Based on observations showing that fragments of PMMA from shattered canopies of fighter planes in World War II were well tolerated in the eyes of pilots, intraocular lenses were created and implanted in humans by Sir Harold Ridley around 1949. Synthetic arteries (referred to as vascular grafts) made from parachute fabric (silk or nylon), were implanted in a patient by Arthur Voorhees in 1952 to replace a ruptured aneurysm. Sir John Charnley pioneered the hip implant, composed of synthetic metals and polymers, in the late 1950s. An improved version of the implant, composed of stainless steel and high molecular weight PE, showed favorable success rates when implanted in patients the early 1960s. Improved versions of intraocular lenses, vascular grafts, and hip implants, along with several devices created from these chemically inert biomaterials are now implanted in millions of patients.