Cell membrane-mimicking coating for blood-contacting polyurethanes.

Beata Butruk-Raszeja, Maciej Trzaskowski, Tomasz Ciach

Index: J. Biomater. Appl. 29(6) , 801-12, (2014)

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Abstract

The aim of the present work was to develop simple modification technique for polyurethanes (PUs) intended for use in blood-contacting implants (vascular grafts, heart prosthesis, ventricular assist devices). PU surface was modified with soybean-derived phosphatidylcholine (PC) via one-step dip coating technique. In order to evaluate blood compatibility of the obtained materials, samples were contacted with human blood under static and arterial flow-simulated conditions. The PC-modified surfaces were thoroughly characterized and tested for fibrinogen resistance, the ability to resist platelet adhesion and activation, hemolysis percentage and plasma recalcification time. Results demonstrated significant, more than three-fold reduction in the amount of fibrinogen adsorbed to PC-modified materials as compared to non-modified PU. Analysis of the samples' surface after incubation with blood showed high reduction in platelet adhesion. The results were confirmed by analysis of blood samples collected after shear-stress tests--the percentage of free (non-aggregated) platelets remaining in blood samples contacted with PC-coated materials exceeded 70%. The same parameter measured for non-modified PU was significantly lower and equaled 28%.© The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.