In vivo sheep and rabbit models for evaluating low-fouling zwitterionic polymer coatings in artificial lungs

摘要

The veno-venous extracorporeal sheep model allowed a head-to-head comparison between three pCB coating methodologies. This study showed that DOPA coating was the most effective methodology that yielded the lowest resistance and the least chance of device failure. However, the major drawback to the sheep model is that, since all devices were attached simultaneously, information on blood-biomaterial interaction for a specific coating was lost. Hence, a follow-up rabbit study aimed to study DOPA coating using ELISA to quantify the changes in clotting activity. The rabbit study suggests that DOPA-pCB coating reduced clotting activity and clot weight by attracting hydration layers that resist non-specific protein adsorption. Future work will continue both animal studies to reach a higher sample size and better statistical power.