A Self-Repairing Natural Rubber as a Novel Material Pad to Develop an Electro-Surgical Training Prototype

Abstract

This work aims to develop a self-repairing natural rubber sheet and use it in a new design electro-surgical training prototype. The self-repairing material is prepared via controlled crosslinking with varying curing time and temperature and applied as a material pad. The electrical circuit board in the prototype is created to measure the depth of the surgical blade through a material pad. The completely modified control crosslinking of the rubber sheet is confirmed by the changing chemical structure of rubber latex via FT-IR spectra resulting in the hardening of swelling affected by high crosslinking density. The self-repairing of natural rubber sheets occurred at the cut part and the tensile strength at break increases with the increase in self-repairing time. The prototype testing shows that when the scalpel blade is cut into the rubber sheet at the setting dept, the electrical circuit is activated, making it suitable for medical practice.