Surface Modification of Commonly used Polymer Plastics for Increased Hemocompatibility in Medical Equipment

Exposure of synthetic materials to body fluids may result in undesirable protein−material interactions, this can potentially trigger deleterious biological processes such as thrombosis. The result is increased chances of heart attack, stroke or other cardiovascular complication after extravascular blood procedure. For our experiment, we have chosen a wide variety of materials used in making perfusion equipment components: polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polycarbonate (PC), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), polyurethane (PU), polysulfone (PS). All materials had MEG-OH adlayer formed and characterized with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, attenuated total internal reflection and contact angle goniometry. Several of the materials (PVC, PC, and PS) were tested directly for their compatibility with whole human blood. Antithrombogenicity was assessed after 2,5,10 and 60 min, 3 hours, 6 hours, and 3 days exposure to whole human blood dispensed at a shear rate of 1, 300, 900, 1000 and 1500 s−1. Most MEG-OH covered plastics had >90% less platelet adhesion than bare plastics, the result was repeated on all exposure times and shear rates. Surface protein composition was analyzed by SDS–PAGE. First trails using MEG-OH on PVC as an implant material for cranial windows on rats decreased the amount of fouling comparable to bare PVC. Overall the MEG-OH proved to be robust on a wide variety of materials with very high potential in blood compatibility.Ph.D.2018-11-02 00:00:0