A study of variant silicone rubber heart valve poppets by thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis

Abstract Thermal analyses were used to assist in the characterization of forty selected silicone elastomer heart valve poppets which have been implanted in humans for time periods varying from 22 to 79 months. Three distinct types of thermograms were obtained which were related to the amount and general type of constituents absorbed by the poppets during implants. These results are analyzed and discussed in terms of other analytical results from solvent extraction, gas chromatographic and thin-layer chromatographic analyses.