What are the advantages of using carbon fiber materials in medical devices?

2025-09-18 13:59:04

Carbon fiber composites, with their advantages of light weight, high strength, and high flexural stiffness, are widely used in various fields. The initial use of carbon fiber in medical devices began in the 1960s, when research into anti-clotting materials for artificial blood vessels revealed the remarkable anti-clotting properties of carbon materials. After Bokros pioneered the use of carbon materials as biomedical devices in the 1970s, carbon fiber composites garnered widespread attention in the medical field. Let's discuss the advantages of using carbon fiber composites in medical devices.

1. Excellent Mechanical Properties of Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber composites offer the advantages of high compressive strength and low weight, with high specific strength and modulus. In medical devices, they can be used for components requiring high rigidity and low weight. Examples include carbon fiber stretchers and wheelchairs, which are lightweight and high in compressive strength, making them easy for users to carry and use.

2. Carbon Fiber Anisotropy and Designability

Some components in medical devices require minimal deflection when loaded in certain directions, resulting in high rigidity. Carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy resin composites can exhibit significant anisotropy, meaning a significant difference in strength along the fiber axis and perpendicular to it. This material anisotropy provides considerable design flexibility.

3. Carbon Fiber X-ray Transmittance

The strength attenuation coefficient, or degree of absorption, of X-rays after passing through a material is related to the material's composition, atomic number, density, and thickness. The aluminum equivalent of carbon fiber composites is 0.11, and that of carbon fiber composite foam interlayer structures is 0.52. 

Their X-ray transmittance is significantly superior to traditional medical materials such as aluminum, plywood, and phenolic resin. Compared to carbon fiber composites, epoxy resin has an elemental composition of C, H, and O, while carbon fiber has an elemental composition of C. Their X-ray mass absorption is significantly lower than that of typical materials. Furthermore, carbon fiber composites allow radiation to strike the bedboard from any direction without causing reflections. The use of carbon fiber medical bed boards in CT diagnosis can not only reduce the consumption of X-rays, but also make the diagnosis results clearer and more accurate.