Vascular Access Catheter Materials and Evolution

This brief, yet interesting, history gives insight to the ancient materials and devices first applied to bodily drainage catheters and its leading to modern materials and modern vascular access systems. The latter are currently performing as feeding tubes, drug delivery and blood sampling, some directly into the heart, especially as used in the field of oncology. Elastomeric materials, natural and synthetic and flexible plastics, polyurethanes, polyethylene, polyvinylchloride, Teflon, and Nylon, all have been studied for vascular catheters. This scientific article also describes the clinical investigations by early leaders in this field, whose courage goes far beyond belief, some actually using their own bodies for experimentation.