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for this technology would be a catheter that has a soft tip for patient comfort but is otherwise stiff, making it easier to be placed where it belongs in the patient's body. Trelleborg is also on the cutting edge of technology that uses its silicone-based devices or parts as a vehicle to deliver drugs. "We have a lot of experience in this area, and it's a segment of the medical market that is growing very quickly," says Rogers. "We've been working with API for 7-8 years, not only with antimicrobials but with hormones for contraception and devices that include medicines for sexually transmitted diseases. We've worked on a molded silicone implant that elutes a drug specifically for malaria-infested populations. In this case the drug that elutes kills not only the diseases but the mosquitos too." Combining silicone products with an API provides a variety of benefits. For one, it can permit a more controlled release rate of the medicine. Secondly, it allows for a more targeted delivery of the API. Explains Rogers, "Cancer drugs are often taken by pill or injection. Of course these are very strong medicines that, when delivered this systemically, travel through the entire system. The result is many well-known and undesirable side effects, including tissue degeneration. With an implant delivery device, you can deliver a drug right at the point of the tumor, using a drug reservoir and release control or a patch. Generally speaking, a drug/ device combination product may be a part already going into a patient: a wound-drain catheter, for example. Impregnating the antimicrobial into the wound-drain tube itself turns that tube into a solution as opposed to a culprit (for infection)." Silcone products and drugs can be combined in one of three ways, Rogers explains. In one scenario, raw silicone and a powdered form of a drug are mixed prior to fabrication. The drawback of this technique, Rogers notes, is that silicone is typi- cally cured at high temperatures, and the extreme heat can affect the efficacy of the medicine. In the second approach, a silicone part like a tube is immersed into a liquid form of the drug or a drug in solution for a very specific period of time. States Rogers, "In addition to being biologically inert, the great thing about silicone is that it has very consistent absorption and elution characteristics. So if you take a particular durometer of silicone and immerse it into a particular "With an implant delivery device you can deliver a drug right at the point of the tumor, using a drug reservoir and release control or a patch." SCRUB PADS NYLON AIRBAGS Trelleborg Sealing Solutions On-Site