Effects of Surface Texture on Soft-Materials for Medical Applications

Abstract

We have studied the effects of a textured structures on soft-materials, mainly to reduce friction between body tissues and plastic components used in medical devices. For this purpose, we investigated changes in friction between the structure of grooves on plastic and rubber, which was considered as body tissue. Silicone oil was used for the purpose of lubrication, and the changes in friction were observed from the point of view of aspect ratio. The results indicated that a grooved surface exhibited lower friction compared to a non-textured surface. Furthermore, directional sliding perpendicular to the grooves was more effective in reducing friction than that parallel to the grooves. In addition, the results indicated that the kinetic friction was changed by pitch and depth even if the aspect ratio was similar in a direction perpendicular to the straight grooves. Furthermore, the results indicated that a higher aspect ratio resulted in a lower kinetic friction when the pitch was fixed and the depth was changed in a direction perpendicular to the straight grooves. In this study, the frictional materials used were soft-materials that simulated the softness of the human body and medical devices. Thus, from the results mentioned above, we can conclude that textured structures can reduce friction for soft materials.