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Over the past three decades or so, plastics have become crucial to modern medicine. Plastics are flexible enough to fit into the smallest places, and they’re durable enough to withstand decades of wear and tear. The practice of medicine has entered an age of rapid progress, and plastics are at the core of medical innovation.
Prostheses: Plastics are now the primary choice for prostheses. They can help align, support and correct, but they don’t stop there. Self-healing, hyper-realistic plastic prosthetics are right around the corner. Their properties closely mirror the flexibility and sensitivity of human skin, and plastic muscles can even be used to obtain mobility in artificial limbs.
Resorbable implants: Disappearing, dissolvable plastic implants are not science fiction. Today, doctors are beginning to use stents made from corn-based plastic to improve blood flow in clogged arteries. Traditional stents are made from metal, and they have been known to cause additional cardiac problems. A plastic stent, on the other hand, is safely absorbed by the body after its job is complete.
Hip socket replacements: Hip replacement surgery is one of the most common procedures performed in Europe and North America, but metal-on-metal replacement hip sockets are more prone to premature failure and other challenges than plastic alternatives. A hip socket made with carbon fiber-reinforced polyetheretherketone (PEEK) plastic has been shown to possess higher strength, better wear resistance and better biocompatibility than metal counterparts, mirroring the natural way force is transmitted to better replicate a natural human hip.
Packaging: Plastic packaging is helping to keep us safe. Innovations in plastic medication bottles are making medication management easier—devices such as prescription bottle timers and plastic clip-on magnifiers are helping those in need. But plastic packaging isn’t limited to pills and syrups. Today, donated blood is collected in PVC bags instead of glass bottles. Plastic helps protect each bag’s valuable content, extend shelf life and decrease the risk of bacterial contamination.
Artificial corneas: Eye injuries or chronic inflammations can impair a patient’s sight, but not all these can be treated by transplant. Prosthetic corneas can be used instead, made from special silicone that’s 0.3 to 0.5 millimeters thick, highly transparent, flexible and made with biomechanics similar to those of a natural cornea.
Hearing aids: A plastic implant can help bring sound back to the ears of people with severely impaired hearing. A small plastic device consisting of numerous different components can bypass the damaged cells that caused patients' hearing loss in the first place to directly stimulate the auditory nerve, thereby enabling them to hear again.
Pill capsules: Plastics are what enable time-release capsules to disperse exactly the right dosage of medicine at exactly the right time. Tartaric acid-based polymers gradually break down to release the pill’s contents. This helps eliminate the risk of patient discomfort and even accidental overdose.