Why use medical silicone oil?

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The progress of science and innovative medical device trends have led to the introduction of a variety of polymer materials in the medical field, medical grade silicones materials as organic compounds polymer materials play an important role, such as liquid silicone rubber LSR, and silicone oil. LSR can be applied in high-consistency rubber and silicone adhesive and can be used in implantable drug delivery devices. And why use medical silicone oil?

Due to medical-grade silicones oil properties of being gentle, pure, and non-irritating to the skin, medical-grade silicone oil can be used as a waterproof, moisturizing, and lubricating agent in the medical field. Mdecial-grade silicones oil can be used on the surface of the skin or on wounds to alleviate the feeling of dryness and stinging. Silicone oil can also be used to lubricate some medical devices to reduce friction and wear during use.

This article will discuss six aspects of medical silicone oils:

1. What is medical silicone oil?

Medical grade silicone oil is a Polyorganosiloxane liquid and its derivatives are used in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of disease or in medical devices to play a lubricating, defoaming function.

Broadly speaking, the cosmetic silicone oil used for skin care and beauty care also belongs to this category. Commonly used medical grade silicones oil for Polydimethylsiloxane, the use of its defoaming properties, can be made to treat abdominal distension of flatulence tablets and treatment of pulmonary edema aerosol, can also be used in abdominal surgery as a prevention of intestinal adhesions of anti-adhesive, in gastroscopy as a gastric defoamer and lubricants for some medical surgical instruments.

Medical grade silicone oil is required to be produced in a clean environment, with high purity, no residual acid, alkali catalysts, and low volatile matter, and is now mostly produced by resin method.

2. What are the features of silicone oil?

Medical grade silicones oil is made of bifunctional or monofunctional silicone monomer hydrolyzed and condensed into a linear structure of the oil. Commonly used are Methyl silicone oil, Ethyl silicone oil, and Methyl Phenyl silicone oil. Because medical-grade silicones have high chemical bond strength, good stability, compatibility, and other characteristics, silicone oil in the field of medical treatment is widely used.

Different from silicone adhesives, silicone oil is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, it has both glass and quartz properties, has good heat resistance, water resistance, resistance and chemical inertia, physiological inertia, and flexibility, and its liquid can be quickly diffused on the surface of other objects spread, the formation of the molecular thickness of the film so that the surface has a hydrophobic surface and reduce the surface of the adhesive force of viscous substances.

3. How to apply medical silicone oil?

Medical grade silicone oil is a colorless clarified oily liquid; odorless or almost odorless, tasteless. Medical-grade silicone oil is extremely soluble in Trichloromethane, Ether, or Toluene, and insoluble in water and Ethanol.

3.1 Used in the human body

If we try silicone oil material production for artificial larynx, heart valves, birth control, and other medical products, it is certainly with the human body's "appropriate" cooperation. Because the reaction with human tissue is very small, it can completely replace the human soft tissue, through the biochemical process and achieve the human body "assimilation".

3.2 Used as an antifoam agent

Medical-grade silicone oil can be used as an antifoam agent, its surface tension is small and can change the surface tension of bubbles so that they rupture.

Silicone oil antifoaming effect can be used to stop coughing, eliminate gas, and save the life of emphysema. Modern medicine believes that bronchial secretion blistering is usually the cause of cough, then the use of silicone antifoaming agent can make bronchial secretion blistering to achieve the effect of cough. In gastroscopy, taking silicone defoamer can also make the gastric lining more clearly observed while eliminating the accumulation of gas in the stomach and intestines after surgery. Especially in emphysema attack patients, the lung fluid will occur rapidly bubbling in a few minutes causing asphyxiation and death, and thus the use of non-toxic odorless silicone antifoam can save the life of such dangerous patients.

Medical grade silicone oil as an anti-foaming agent and defoamer for pharmaceuticals, usually only needs to add a very small dose, and can achieve extremely ideal results.

This product is non-toxic and tasteless, with active groups, under the action of catalyst, it can react with double bonds, hydroxyl groups, etc. It is the basic raw material of leveling agents, antifoam agents, water-soluble silicone oil, and other products.

3.3 Used in pharmaceutical products

Silicone oil has excellent hydrophobicity and reduces the adhesion characteristics, but also in medicine, it has great significance. Such as water-containing liquid medicine into a coated silicone oil bottle or ampoule, when used can be all poured out and drained, can achieve the purpose of using the full amount. Now widely stored penicillin suspension or powder ampoule coated with silicone oil, can be injected when the penicillin solution can quickly flow along the inner wall, is easy for medical personnel to carry out the operation of emptying and punctual pumping out of the contents of the drug.

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And medical silicone oil can be used as a lubricant and polishing agent for tablets and capsules, brightening, anti-adhesion, and moisture-proofing for tablet granulation, tablet pressing, and coating, coolant for controlled and slow-release preparations, especially for drop pills;

Medical silicone oil also can be used as a reservoir for transdermal drug delivery preparations with strong fat solubility and used as a suppository release agent, defoamer in the extraction process of traditional Chinese medicine;

It is soluble in aromatic hydrocarbons/petroleum hydrocarbons and other organic solvents, not in water, it is a kind of silicone intermediate with a wide range of uses, it is usually used as a silicone capping agent, and it can also be used as a pharmaceutical intermediates medical grade materials.

4. How to use Dimethicone in medicals?

4.1 What is Dimethicone?

Medical Dimethicone, also known as Polydimethylsiloxane, is a special material widely used in medical applications. Its special properties make it an indispensable part of medical device manufacturing, pharmaceutical preparations, and healthcare products.

Medical Dimethicone has good biocompatibility and biosimilarity, and will not cause allergies or other adverse reactions when in contact with human tissues. It has excellent stability and controllability, and its fluidity and viscosity can be adjusted as needed to meet the requirements of different medical fields.

4.2 Detailed Applications

(1) Medical Dimethicone also has excellent permeability and can smoothly pass through the capillary wall to enter the inside of the cell, which is used in drug delivery systems and disease treatment.

(2) In surgery, Dimethicone is often used to fill and repair tissue defects, such as in breast reconstruction and facial plastic surgery. Its high strength elastic bonds and plasticity allow it to fill tissue cavities and create natural multiple components, helping to restore patients' confidence and appearance.

In addition, Dimethicone is widely used in ophthalmic surgery to fill the inside of the eyeball, stabilize intraocular pressure, and protect the retina.

(3) Medical Dimethicone is also used as a carrier for drug formulations. Due to its good biocompatibility and permeability, it can be used to prepare microcapsules, nanoparticles, or nano micelles in which drugs are encapsulated. In this way, the rate of drug release in the body can be controlled, thereby enhancing drug efficacy and minimizing side effects. For example, encapsulating an anti-cancer drug in a carrier of medical dimethyl brick oil enables targeted drug delivery, improving the effect of the drug while reducing damage to healthy cells.

(4) Medical Dimethicone can also be used in healthcare products. For example, it can be used as a moisturizer and lubricant to improve the texture and feel of the skin product. In medical device manufacturing, it can be used to lubricate and protect the patient's skin surface, reducing friction and discomfort.

(5) In addition, Dimethicone can also be used in medical counting materials and trauma treatment, with the function of promoting wound healing and preventing infection.

As a key material, medical Dimethicone has important application value. It plays an important role in medical devices, pharmaceutical preparations, and healthcare products, and has helped the medical field achieve many major breakthroughs. With the continuous progress of science and technology, the application prospect of medical Dimethicone oil will be broader, and make greater contributions to the cause of human health.

5. How can medical products perform better?

Because of silicone's good physical and chemical properties, it is made of materials and products in the medical, pharmaceutical, and other materials that have other unparalleled uses and contributions to the human body and the surrounding environment can be applied to silicone preparations and products in broad range. Its wide range of applications and reliability have made it a key material in today's medicine and medical applications materials and will be highly valued by other industries and widely used. How to improve the competitiveness of your products in medical applications?

XJY Silicones is one of the leading silicone MQ resin and VMQ silicone manufacturers in China, with more than 30 years of R&D and manufacturing experience in the silicone industry and more than 15 related patents and technical support. Our silicone oils can meet the needs of the medical field and support the provision of diversified customized solutions.

Esters could unseat silicone as the global choice for the best transformer fluid based on performance and price.

Glancing back to the s, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were the cooling liquids of choice for transformers in locations where the possibility of fire was high. Then it happened: PCBs were classified as carcinogenic, as well as persistent organic pollutants. A safer replacement liquid was needed, and quickly. Silicone oil seemed to offer a solution. Although not biodegradable, it was non-flammable, the price point was good, and it was widely used by operators in the U.S., Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

But times have changed, and the popularity of silicone has waned. Better-performing and environmentally superior alternatives such as ester fluids have come to market. Now, with silicone oil prices nearly tripling to around $7 per quart, even its financial attractiveness has evaporated. Could it be the end of an era for silicon transformer fluids?

Silicone is a K class transformer fluid, meaning it has a fire point above 300oC. This means that in the event of a transformer failure due to an arc or lightning strike, there would be no pool fire (as would be the case with mineral oil).

Silicone was used for applications where fire safety is an overriding concern. Distribution transformers in built-up areas, oil and gas operations, manufacturing facilities handling flammable substances, trains, and wind turbines' these are the type of places where fire safety is a crucial factor. In regions with higher ambient temperatures, such as the Middle East and Asia-Pacific, this is especially important.

However, silicone has now been superseded by more technically advanced options such as ester-based transformer fluids.

Esters and silicone fluids are both K class (non-flammable), making them ideal for applications where fire safety is critical. However, esters (both synthetic and natural) offer superior environmental protection. Silicone is also notoriously prone to leaking and, once in the environment, takes an extremely long time to degrade. Esters are non-toxic and'crucially'fully biodegradable.

So, when it comes to selection criteria, esters match or out-perform silicone. They also have other advantages. For example, esters boast a high water-saturation limit. Water ingress can be a serious problem for many transformers, especially in humid environments such as the Asia-Pacific region. Whether used in breathing or sealed transformer designs, esters tolerate a lot more moisture before their dielectric properties are compromised. Silicone, like mineral oil, is less tolerant of moisture. This shouldn't matter, as silicone is mostly used in sealed transformers for this very reason. However, this presupposes regular and comprehensive maintenance, which isn't always the case in the real world.

Esters also come out ahead in terms of cooling, especially in regions such as the Middle East, where ambient temperatures of 60oC and above are relatively common. At these temperatures, silicone has a higher viscosity than ester fluids, lowering the transformer's true power rating. This means operators can get the same power rating for a smaller transformer, yielding significant space savings.

In fact, that's more broadly the case for esters, which boast higher dielectric performance. That means, while silicone is restricted to use in transformers up to around 66 kV, esters have no such limit. It also works in higher power-rated transformers of the same size. For applications such as wind farms where turbines are getting bigger and more powerful as time goes on, this offers significant performance advantages.

More anecdotally, esters are also just nicer to work with. Anyone who works in a manufacturing facility where silicone is involved will tell you how easily it can contaminate things, how prone to leaking it is, and how it collects dust and detritus. Transformer manufacturers themselves try to avoid silicone where possible, along with commercial and industrial users with on-site transformers. In fact, at some places such as an automotive paint plant, silicone is actually banned due to the risks of contamination.

The fact that silicone transformer fluids have last so long speaks to a major advantage they have always enjoyed: price. Though prices fluctuate, silicone has typically been available for between $2.50 to $2.80 per quart.

Not any longer: A combination of rising demand for silicone for other uses and reduced supply has led to a supply imbalance and, therefore, increased prices. When silicone is a core ingredient in items such as display screens and computer chips, transformer fluid manufacturers are unlikely to at the front of the queue for the limited supplies available.

Silicone oil prices have now reached about $7 per quart and they're unlikely to go back down to where they were. Though it's not possible to use esters in transformers built for silicone, there's a powerful case to be made for users who might usually specify silicone for new transformers to opt for esters instead. Utilities, oil and gas companies, rail operators'there are many sectors where fire-safe transformers are mission critical, and that is only exacerbated in the hot climates of the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. As environmental concerns feature more prominently on shareholder and board agendas, esters also stand out for their eco-friendly credentials. Glancing forward, perhaps it's the end of an era for silicone transformer fluids.

by Barry Menzies, managing director global for MIDEL.

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