POLYESTER AS A BIOIMPLANTABLE MATERIAL

In response to the recent controversy over silicone gel implants, alte rnative substances are being sought to offer new options in bioimplant able materials. Polyester is a Food and Drug Administration-approved p rosthetic material utilized in vascular grafts for decades without sig nificant problems in body tolerance. Working with textile scientists, polyester (both in its woven and fibrous forms) was engineered to infl uence differential fibrous ingrowth. Implants of medical-grade polyest er Were constructed in a 3-cm(2) diskette configuration. Four combinat ions of material with varying layers of weave and fiber were created t o influence tissue ingrowth differentially. Four implants were placed in separate dorsal pockets beneath the panniculus carnosus of each of 12 adult female New Zealand White rabbits. Care was taken to sort the implant types equally among the four quadrants such that a similar dis tribution of implants existed between animals. implants with intact ca psules were harvested at 1, 3, and 6 months, and were analyzed for his tology, capsular thickness, and tissue ingrowth, A phantom mammogram w as taken through the implant material that did not obscure interpretat ion. The materials were further tested to determine fiber fill-to-wet implant weight ratios to determine postimplantation weight predictably . Tensile strength was also determined.