Packaging of electronic devices for long-term implantation

Development of smart medical devices for long-term implantation requires new encapsulation technologies with a special focus on flexible packaging of electronic devices. Biocompatible, high performance polymers seem to be suitable for such applications, however their protective function i.e. suppressing harmful interactions between the human and the foreign body is still unknown. Here, we evaluated this protective function of six polymers with regard to surface properties, water absorption and water solubility. Among all polymers investigated, silicone (low-consistency) showed the best characteristics compared to epoxy resin or polyurethane.