Vinyl Devices that Prevent Blood Clotting
Blood clotting or coagulation is a dangerous phenomenon that can occur when blood comes into contact with foreign objects like tubing or catheters used in various medical procedures, including open-heart surgery, dialysis and platelet collection. Currently, anti-thrombogenic coatings, like heparin, are used to prevent coagulation in medical devices. But a new technology allows anti-clotting molecules to be incorporated directly into the vinyl used in various tubing, catheters, extracorporeal circuits and other devices. This technology, which can only be applied to vinyl, increases the reliability of medical products and enhances the safety of a number of critical life-saving procedures.
Critical Recovery Unit Relies on Vinyl
According to medical research, bone marrow transplant (BMT) units are critical to the recovery of patients. A typical hospital stay after a bone marrow transplant is from four to six weeks, during which time a patient is isolated and under strict monitoring because transplanted healthy bone marrow cells tend to attack a patient's cells as though they were foreign organisms, leaving the patient vulnerable to infection. Their recovery environment, therefore, must be extremely clean and sterile.
The Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ houses a 4,045 square foot bone marrow transplant (BMT) unit that uses vinyl on flooring and wallcovering to provide optimum hygiene and sterility. Vinyl is resistant to harboring pathogens, and is easy to clean and disinfect. The architects who designed this BMT unit also chose vinyl because of its aesthetic appeal - vinyl can take on the appearance of almost any color and display intricate woven designs. Thus, vinyl's aesthetics and cleanliness provide an optimum healing environment.
Artificial Liver Depends on Vinyl
Vinyl is a critical material being used in the development of the world's first artificial liver. Like kidney dialysis, the tubing used in the artificial liver is made from vinyl because of its durability, ease of solvent bonding (creating material bridges without reliance on glues), consistency and uniformity of extrusion diameters, adaptability of durometer (hardness) by varying the amounts of the plasticizer used to soften the vinyl, and clarity. Without vinyl, the development of an artificial liver would not be feasible.