Oxidative and hydrolytic stability of a novel acrylic terpolymer for biomedical applications

Oxidative and hydrolytic biostability assessment was carried out on a novel acrylic material made of hexamethyl methacrylate (HMA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), and methacrylic acid (MAA). To simulate the in vivo microenvironment, solutions of H₂O₂/CoCl₂ and buffered solutions of cholesterol esterase (CE) and phospholipase A2 (PLA) were used. As controls, film specimens were incubated in deionized water. Samples were incubated in these solutions at 37°C for 10 weeks before physical and mechanical properties were evaluated by size exclusion chromatography (SEC), ¹H- nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR), acid-base titration, and Instron tensile testing. The results from this study indicate excellent biostability of HMA-MMA-MAA terpolymers and thus their potential for use in biomedical devices for long-term implantation. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2005