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Title: A Processable Shape Memory Polymer System for Biomedical Applications

Journal Article · · Advanced Healthcare Materials
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  1. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
  2. California Polytechnic State Univ. (CalPoly), San Luis Obispo, CA (United States)
  3. Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)

Polyurethane shape memory polymers (SMPs) with tunable thermomechanical properties and advanced processing capabilities are synthesized, characterized, and implemented in the design of a microactuator medical device prototype. The ability to manipulate glass transition temperature (Tg) and crosslink density in low-molecular weight aliphatic thermoplastic polyurethane SMPs is demonstrated using a synthetic approach that employs UV catalyzed thiol-ene “click” reactions to achieve postpolymerization crosslinking. Polyurethanes containing varying C=C functionalization are synthesized, solution blended with polythiol crosslinking agents and photoinitiator and subjected to UV irradiation, and the effects of number of synthetic parameters on crosslink density are reported. Thermomechanical properties are highly tunable, including glass transitions tailorable between 30 and 105 °C and rubbery moduli tailorable between 0.4 and 20 MPa. This new SMP system exhibits high toughness for many formulations, especially in the case of low crosslink density materials, for which toughness exceeds 90 MJ m–3 at select straining temperatures. To demonstrate the advanced processing capability and synthetic versatility of this new SMP system, a laser-actuated SMP microgripper device for minimally invasive delivery of endovascular devices is fabricated, shown to exhibit an average gripping force of 1.43 ± 0.37 N and successfully deployed in an in vitro experimental setup under simulated physiological conditions.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); National Science Foundation (NSF); National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344; 1114211; 2011113646; CHE-1057441; R01EB000462
OSTI ID:
1828129
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-828368; 1043766
Journal Information:
Advanced Healthcare Materials, Vol. 4, Issue 9; ISSN 2192-2640
Publisher:
WileyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Influence of the soft segment nature on the thermomechanical behavior of shape memory polyurethanes journal March 2017
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Electrical Properties of Thiol-ene-based Shape Memory Polymers Intended for Flexible Electronics journal May 2019
Stereolithographic 4D Bioprinting of Multiresponsive Architectures for Neural Engineering journal July 2018
Development of a Shape‐Memory Tube to Prevent Vascular Stenosis journal August 2019
Degradable Poly(ether-ester-urethane)s Based on Well-Defined Aliphatic Diurethane Diisocyanate with Excellent Shape Recovery Properties at Body Temperature for Biomedical Application journal June 2019
4D Printing of Shape Memory-Based Personalized Endoluminal Medical Devices journal December 2016
Experimental study of thermo-mechanical behavior of a thermosetting shape-memory polymer journal January 2018
Hydrogel‐coated polyurethane/urea shape memory polymer foams journal May 2019
In Situ Generated Medical Devices journal March 2019
3D printing of thermoreversible polyurethanes with targeted shape memory and precise in situ self-healing properties journal January 2019
Poly(ethylene glycol)-sheddable reduction-sensitive polyurethane micelles for triggered intracellular drug delivery for osteosarcoma treatment journal March 2020
Increased X-ray Visualization of Shape Memory Polymer Foams by Chemical Incorporation of Iodine Motifs journal August 2017