Date：2023-01-03
Common uses of carbon fiber in the medical industry
Thomas Edison is widely credited with inventing carbon fiber in the 1870s. Others claim it was invented in the 1850s, and some claim it wasn't really invented until a century later.
The truth is, each claim has some validity. The earliest experiments with carbon fiber probably took place in the 1850s, and each subsequent generation refined the material until modern carbon fiber was born.
Whoever invented it, carbon fiber fabrics have made huge contributions to society, from the aerospace industry to the medical industry. We will discuss some interesting medical uses of carbon fiber in this article.
1. Carbon fiber medical bed plate
One of carbon fibre's main features is its resistance to radiation. Radiation works at the atomic level, reacting with atoms and changing the properties of things that interact with them.
Carbon fiber as a substance is chemically inert, meaning it doesn't do much at the atomic level. Radiation doesn't react with it, because there's hardly any reaction.
That's good news for radiologists, who use carbon fiber in all aspects of their practice. Most of the equipment you're likely to see in a radiation lab contains carbon fiber in some part.
2. Prosthetics
Prosthetics have been around for years, but have become quite sophisticated in the last century or so. Where wooden legs and canes were once the norm, we now have lightweight and flexible structures made of carbon fibre.
Each prosthetic has to be made specifically for the wearer because there are different factors involved in creating the right limb, such as weight, height and personal habits.
3. Medical implants
On the topic of medical alternatives, we should also talk about implants, and no, not that kind of implants. We're talking about things like hip and knee replacement.
These types of implants are often made of carbon fiber for many different reasons. Most medical materials are made from sheets of carbon fiber fabric stuck together with some kind of adhesive, usually a resin.
In most cases, prostheses need to be replaced every five years or so. It's not because carbon fibers wear out, it's because resin wears out.
4. Sealant
A big part of medicine is keeping dangerous foreign bodies out of the body during surgery. Countless late-night sitcoms have joked about it.
To prevent this, surgeons may use a sealant made of carbon fiber. Medical tools are soaked in cleaning chemicals that are unsafe for humans. Sealants clean tools to keep them working and make sure chemicals don't get into our bodies.
Application of carbon fiber fabric in medicine
Many industries use carbon fiber fabrics to produce stronger materials and reduce damage caused by traditional processes. One of these industries is medicine.
The application of carbon fibers in the medical field has been discussed in the new materials of Intel, but both medicine and composite materials are complex fields, and there is always more to learn.
