A Healthy Future: Platinum in Medical Applications

The world's growing population demands increasing access to advanced healthcare treatments. Platinum is used to make essential components for a range of medical devices, including pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, catheters, stents and neuromodulation devices. The properties of platinum which make it suitable for medical device applications include its biocompatibility, inertness within the body, durability, electrical conductivity and radiopacity. Components can be manufactured in a variety of forms, from rod, wire and ribbon to sheet and foil, plus high-precision micromachined parts. As well as biomedical device components, platinum also finds use in anticancer drugs such as cisplatin and carboplatin.