Study of Electrochemical Behaviour and Corrosion Resistance of Materials for Pacemaker Lead Applications

For patients suffering bradycardia, i.e., too slow heart rhythm, the common treatment is having a pacemaker implanted. The pacemaker system consists of the pacemaker and a pacing lead. The pacing lead is connected to the pacemaker and at the other end there is a stimulation electrode. The most common conductor material is a cobalt-based super alloy (MP35N® or 35N LT®), with the main constituents Ni, Co, Cr and Mo. The pacemaker electrode is often made of a substrate material with a rough surface coating. The substrate materials are predominantly platinum/iridium alloy and titanium. The material choice is of great importance for the performance and stability during long-term service. Excellent corrosion resistance is required to minimize elution of metal ions in the human body. In this thesis, the electrochemical behaviour and corrosion resistance of the Co-based alloys and Ta (as electrode substrate), in a phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution with and without addition of H2O2, was investigated by means of potentiodynamic polarization, cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and simulated pacemaker pulsing. The metal release from the Co-based alloy during the passivation treatment and exposure in the synthetic biological media was measured by using inductive coupled plasma - atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). Moreover, surface composition was analyzed by using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that the chemical passivation of Co-based alloy 35N LT® increased the corrosion resistance and reduced Co release significantly, even in more hostile environment, i.e. PBS with addition of H2O2. The increased corrosion resistance is due to the Cr enrichment in the surface layer. The reduced Co release is due to a preferential dissolution of Co from the surface oxide layer during the chemical passivation. The electrochemical investigation of uncoated and rough TiN coated Ta show that uncoated Ta is not suitable electrode material due to formation of a highly resistive surface oxide film. Whereas the rough TiN coated Ta exhibits desirable electrochemical performance for pacemaker electrodes. The addition of H2O2 in the PBS has a large influence on the electrochemical behaviour of Ta, but the influence is small on the rough TiN coated Ta. QC 20101122