Feasibility Study of a New Concept for Regulating the Bio- degradation of Absorbable Synthetic Polymers and Fibers

这项探索性研究的目标是开发一种方法来控制植入材料的降解性能。该方法是使用低温气体等离子体技术在植入材料上沉积负电荷。表面负电荷有望排斥参与水解降解机理的负氢离子。这项工作将检验这样一个假设，即表面处理的合成可吸收聚合物的降解率将比未经处理的材料的降解率降低。降解率将使用几种定量技术来确定。如果成功，这项研究将开辟一条针对特定降解率设计植入材料的新途径。此外，也存在降解速度在外部可控的可能性。

The goal of this exploratory research is to develop a method to control the degradation properties of implanted materials. The approach is to deposit negative charges on the implant material using low-temperature gas plasma technology. The negative surface charges are expected to repel the negative OH ions involved in hydrolytic degradation mechanisms. The work will test the hypothesis that the degradation rate of surface-treated synthetic absorbable polymers will be reduced when compared with those of untreated materials. The degradation rate will be determined using several quantitative techniques. If successful, this research will open up a new way of designing implant materials for specific degradation rates. Moreover, the possibility also exists that the degradation rate may be controllable externally.