BIOCOMPATIBILITY OF 6 ELASTOMERS INVITRO

The biocompatibility of two silicone rubbers, Silastic and Dow Corning Elastomer, and of a polyether and a polyester urethane, a polyether polyester copolymer, and polypropylene oxide was assessed in vitro. These elastomers were selected for assessment as a possible alloplastic tympanic membrane. For these studies use was made of rat middle ear mucosa explants and serially cultured epithelium. The quantitative results were based on epithelial growth curves, the morphological picture was based on the findings in epithelium, and the aging of a biomaterial was simulated. Epithelium morphology was investigated by scanning and transmission electron microscopy of X-ray microanalysis. Quantitative results showed that on Dow Corning Elastomer and polypropylene oxide, cell proliferation was significantly lower compared to normal growth curves. The morphological findings were negative for polypropylene oxide, and did not discriminate between the other biomaterials under study. The simulation results indicated better biocompatibility for the polyurethanes and the polyether polyester copolymer compared with that of polypropylene oxide and both silicone rubbers.