Header silicone

Our materials

Silicone

Silicone is a natural material. It contains no additives, especially no plasticisers, and has been used in medical products for over 40 years. The basis of silicone is silicon, the second most common element on earth, right after oxygen. For example, the earth's crust is about 28% silicon and the material can also be found in stones, clay and sand.

Silicone has been used since the mid-20th century, especially for medical products. You can find it in probes, catheters, coatings of puncture needles and pacemakers, gloves and wound dressings.

In soft tissue surgery, silicone implants are used to compensate for congenital defects or features resulting from injury and aging. Many years of clinical experience and a vast number of tests have proven the safety of silicone in the medical environment. And intensive research has so far revealed no allergic reactions to silicone.

In our everyday lives, we encounter silicone in a wide variety of forms: as a foam-binding ingredient in food, as a water-repellent clothing coating, as an insulating material in electrical appliances, as an acid binder in stomach products or as a carrier in deodorants.

Silicone is manufactured as silicone elastomer, silicone gel and silicone oil. For implants, only medical-grade silicone approved for long-term implantation is used.

Polyurethane

From a chemical perspective, polyurethanes are polymers. There are naturally occurring polymers such as cellulose, proteins, or our DNA. Artificially produced polymers are referred to as "plastics." Known representatives are, for example, polyethylenes, polyesters, polystyrenes and polyurethanes, common brands including nylon or Teflon.

The syllables "poly" and "mer" are derived from ancient Greek and mean "consisting of many parts." This describes the basic feature of polymers: they are used to "hang" many small molecules in a row, resulting in very long chains. Thus, polyurethanes are referred to as chain molecules in which the individual molecules are linked together via a urethane bond. The polyurethane bond is a chemically relatively inert bond. Once the bond has been made, it can only be released again with relatively great effort and is correspondingly stable, even in the organic environment. 

Micropolyurethane foam = Microthane®

All commonly used soft tissue implants have a silicone shell but are offered with different surfaces. One of these surfaces is a polyurethane cover, which is called Microthane®.

Microthane® covered implants have the advantage of remaining exactly in the position where they were placed during the operation. Due to their sponge-like structure, they do not slip or rotate and the tissue bonds with them. In addition, they offer greater protection against capsular fibrosis or capsular contracture. This special cover ensures a significantly reduced overall complication rate. (1,2) 

POLYTECH Health & Aesthetics is the only manufacturer of breast implants in Europe with a Microthane® coating.

 

(1) Pompei, Stefano, et al: The Modern Polyurethane-Coated Implant in Breast Augmentation: Long-Term Clinical Experience. Aesthetic Surgery Journal, 2016 Nov;36(10):1124-1129. doi: 10.1093/asj/sjw171. Epub 2016 Sep 27

(2) Pompei, Stefano, et al: Polyurethane Implants in 2-Stage Breast Reconstruction: 9-Year Clinical Experience. Aesthetic Surgery Journal, Volume 37, Issue 2, 1 February 2017, Pages 171-176, doi.org/10.1093/asj/sjw183