Nanostructural haemocompatible coatings for the internal side of artificial blood vessels

Abstract

The main goal of the work was to elaborate low thrombogenicity of surface inside tube-like elements for cardiovascular system support by combination of low-temperature glow discharge and hydrogel coatings to inhibit blood-clotting cascade activation. A large share of amorphous phase silicon was observed in the microstructure analysis. The crystalline elements were uniformly distributed in the amorphous structure. Combination of low thickness, the proper microstructure and density of the coatings provided a highly flexible nature of the whole system. The blood-material interaction was analyzed in vitro in dynamic conditions by using a designed and fabricated novel blood flow simulator. Coatings deposited by the glow discharge expressed good hemocopatibile properties. The use of hydrogel coatings did not reduce coagulation parameter. Hydrogel coatings did not improve the hemocompatibility of the surface modified with carbon based coatings. Modification of surface with hydrogel resulted in further increased risk of hemolysis.