Novel biostable and biocompatible amphiphilic membranes.

We determined the biostability and biocompatibility of two types of amphiphilic conetworks (APCNs): (1) hydrophilic poly(N,N-dimethyl acrylamide) (PDMAAm) and hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microdomains co-crosslinked with polymethylhydrosiloxane (PMHS) clusters (PDMAAm/PMHS/PDMS), and (2) poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and PDMS microdomains co-crosslinked with two specially designed small-molecule crosslinking agents SiC(6)H(5)(SiH)(2)OEt (Y) and polypentamethylhydrocyclosiloxane (PD(5)) (PEG/Y or PD(5)/PDMS). Negative standards for comparing biocompatibility and biostability were crosslinked PDMS. Biostability was assessed by quantitatively determining extractables, equilibrium water swelling, mechanical properties (stress-strain response) of polymer samples before and after implantation in rats for up to 8 weeks, and oxidative accelerated degradation test.