Biodeterioration of medical-grade silicone rubber used for voice prostheses: a SEM study.
Silicone voice prostheses used for rehabilitation of speech after total laryngectomy are inserted in an non-sterile habitat. Deposits on explanted Groningen Button voice prostheses revealed a biofilm, due to heavy colonization of the silicone surface by bacteria and yeasts. Furthermore, it was demonstrated by scanning electron microscopy on sectioned explants that the silicone material was deteriorated by filamentous and vegetative yeast cells. The different explants showed a variety of sharp-edged, discrete yeast colonies. The yeasts grew just under the silicone surface and up to 700 microns into the silicone material. Finally, nine different types of defects in the silicone material created by the yeasts are described. This deterioration of the silicone by yeasts seems to be the main reason for the failure and the frequent replacement of the prostheses. The mechanisms of silicone deterioration are still hypothetical.
Laboratory for Materia Technica, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
T R
TR
Neu
H C
HC
Van der Mei
H J
HJ
Busscher
F
F
Dijk
G J
GJ
Verkerke
D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007831:Larynx, Artificial; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D012826:Silicone Elastomers; D015003:Yeasts
D012826:Silicone Elastomers