Grant: Engage Grants Program

Niagara Prosthetics and Orthotics Corporation (NPO) has approached Brock University to chemically developa novel silicone-based polymer alternative for a liner that will be: 1) flexible in a desired direction and positionwhile maintaining stiffness to limit circumferential elongation; 2) easy and safe to cure in NPO's manufacturingand design studio; 3) durable for prolonged mechanical loads; and 4) be competitively priced to manufacture,in-house, compared to current products. A polymeric material is an ideal liner/interface layer of a prostheticdevice, however, in order to be viable for this application, the material must meet certain criteria. The polymermust be biocompatible, have good tensile properties, and be soft enough to be comfortable for the user to wear.Ideally it should be possible to tailor the rigidity and elasticity of the polymer depending on the nature of theprosthesis. From a practical standpoint, the polymer(s) used as liners for prosthetic devices must also berelatively easy to synthesize and handle on an industrial level. Silicone polymers appear to be an ideal polymerfor use as an interface material for prosthetic devices based on the criteria outlined above. If silicone polymersare used in prosthetic devices, a number of challenges will need to be overcome including identifying a siliconepolymer system that can be cross-linked in a relatively short period of time and ideally at room temperature.Second, a reproducible methodology for strengthening the silicone matrix and controlling the elasticity willneed to be developed.