title: 3D silicone rubber interfaces for individually tailored implants.
abstract: For the fabrication of customized silicone rubber based implants, e.g. cochlear implants or electrocortical grid arrays, it is required to develop high speed curing systems, which vulcanize the silicone rubber before it runs due to a heating related viscosity drop. Therefore, we present an infrared radiation based cross-linking approach for the 3D-printing of silicone rubber bulk and carbon nanotube based silicone rubber electrode materials. Composite materials were cured in less than 120 s and material interfaces were evaluated with scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, curing related changes in the mechanical and cell-biological behaviour were investigated with tensile and WST-1 cell biocompatibility tests. The infrared absorption properties of the silicone rubber materials were analysed with fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in transmission and attenuated total reflection mode. The heat flux was calculated by using the FTIR data, emissivity data from the infrared source manufacturer and the geometrical view factor of the system.
authors.affiliation: Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all, Hannover, Germany, Stieghorst.Jan@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stieghorst
authors.forename: Alexandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bondarenkova
authors.forename: Niklas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burblies
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Behrens
authors.forename: Theodor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Doll
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000069343:Bone-Implant Interface / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects*; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000528:radiation effects; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006244:Hardness / Q000528:radiation effects; D007259:Infrared Rays; D008422:Materials Testing; D051379:Mice; D041681:NIH 3T3 Cells; D066330:Printing, Three-Dimensional; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012408:Rubber; D012828:Silicones / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013718:Tensile Strength / Q000528:radiation effects
chemical_list: D012828:Silicones; D012408:Rubber