Fabrication and Characterization of Grafted Hydrogel Coatings Prepared by Active-Hydrogen Techniques for Heart-Assist Devices.

摘要

The problem of making the engineering properties of plastics used for vascular implants compatible with blood has been approached by coating them with hydrogels. Polyacrylamide applied to plastic surfaces by the method of active-hydrogen grafting was evaluated. Smooth polyacrylamide hydrogel coatings on polypropylene film and vena-cava rings up to 10microns thick were prepared and evaluated for uniformity,thickness,water content and distribution,and biological properties. The low blood protein and weak cellular adhesion found previously for polyacrylamide was also observed on these samples on polypropylene,and there was no tissue toxicity. Small-scale surface roughness on the coated vena-cava rings in a preliminary series of this composition caused clotting in the in-vivo test.