Current Directions in Biomedical Engineering · Published 2025-09-01 · DOI 10.1515/cdbme-2025-0126
The ISO 7198:2016 standard requests permeability testing for medical cover materials but does not consider for physiological viscosity. This study examines the impact of fluid viscosity on the permeability of polymer membranes under static pressure conditions. A specialized test bench was used to evaluate the permeability of two membrane materials with water and a water-glycerol mixture. The appropriate water-glycerol ratio was determined by rheometric analysis to match physiological viscosity. Permeability was assessed at four static pressure levels using a flow sensor, following ISO 7198:2016. Permeability increased with pressure for both test fluids. However, permeability with the water-glycerol mixture was significantly lower than with water. The application of water alone for permeability testing may not represent the materials behavior under physiological conditions. Including permeability measurements with fluids of physiological viscosity could improve the reliability of standardized testing, ensuring more accurate material characterization for medical applications. On the other hand, the use of pure water represents a worst-case scenario if low permeability of the membrane is required.
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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