Hemocompatibility

Abstract

Hemocompatibility is a specific and advanced state of biocompatibility which is especially important for blood interfacing biomaterials. It is important due to its systemic consequences, mainly a blood clot traveling to distant sites and causing unforeseen problems. Any biomaterial which is shown to be biocompatible may not necessarily be hemocompatible, but a hemocompatible material has to be biocompatible. This is because the components in the blood and the processes that take place in it are so different than the rest of those in other tissues and that this issue deserves a separate treatment. In order to understand hemocompatibility, we should first look at the circulatory system and the elements of the circulatory system.