The Biotechnology & Healthcare Industry
Recent trends in biotechnology have resulted in the need for accurate characterization of pore structure of sophisticated porous materials used in advanced applications. Some of the examples are substrates for organ culture, substrates for tissue growth, artificial skin, pouches for drug delivery, arterial grafts, filters for separation of bacteria from body fluids, and various kinds of implants. Control of pore size is important for promoting growth of blood vessels and adequate fluid flow. High porosity is required for sufficient tissue in-growth. Pore volume determines drug holding capacity. Thus, a variety of pore structure characteristics are required to be measured in porous components used in biotechnological applications.
PMI instruments are capable of measuring all the required properties. Various PMI Porometers can measure pore diameter, pore throat diameter, largest pore diameter and pore distribution. The liquid extrusion porosimeter can measure pore volume and liquid permeability without using any toxic material like mercury. The permeameters can measure liquid and gas permeability with or without compression.
The products developed by biotechnology are often tiny. PMI instruments have unique ability to test very small component that are less than a few tenths of a millimeter in size. Special custom sample holders are made for testing each sample. Some of the components can retain their integrity in only certain chemical environments. The PMI instruments can operate under a variety of chemical environments. The engineers at PMI take pleasure in discussing your specific problem and come up with suitable solutions for your problem.