Plasma gas discharge treatment for improving the compatibility of biomaterials
AssigneeWashington Research Foundation
InventorsAllan S. Hoffman, Andrew M. Garfinkle, Buddy D. Ratner, Stephen R. Hanson
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Abstract
A method of treating articles to improve their biocompatibility is disclosed. A polymeric substrate material is positioned within a reactor vessel and exposed to plasma gas discharge in the presence of an atmosphere of an inert gas and then in the presence of an organic gas, such as a fluorinated hydrocarbon gas, which forms a thin, biocompatible surface covalently bonded to the surface of the substrate. The method is particularly useful in the treatment of vascular graft materials to produce grafts that are both thrombi- and emboli-resistant.
Claims10
A method of making a vascular prosthesis from a woven or knit polymeric substrate material whose surface exposed to blood is treated to render the vascular prosthesis both thrombi- and emboli-resistant, comprising:
- exposing the surface of the woven or knit substrate material to be exposed to blood to a radio frequency plasma gas discharge in the presence of a fluorinated hydrocarbon gas, wherein the fluorinated hydrocarbon gas forms a thin coating on the surface exposed to blood of the woven or knit polymeric substrate, said thin coating characterized as highly cross-linked, covalently bound to the woven or knit polymeric substrate material, and not changing the mechanical behavior of the woven or knit polymeric substrate material or its surface texture.
A surface modified vascular graft material whose treated surface, when exposed to blood, is both thrombi- and emboli-resistant over extended periods of time, comprising:
- a woven or knit polyethylene terephthalate substrate material having a thin, covalently bonded coating on the treated surface, wherein the coating consists essentially of a highly cross-linked fluorocarbon polymer resulting from a radio frequency plasma discharge polymerization process conducted in a fluorinated hydrocarbon gaseous atmosphere, and wherein the coating does not change the mechanical behavior of the woven or knit polyethylene terephthalate substrate material or its surface texture.
A method for making a surface modified woven or knit substrate material characterized by having a coated surface, when exposed to blood, is both thrombi- and emboli-resistant over extended periods of time, comprising:
- exposing a surface of the woven or knit substrate material to a plasma gas discharge in the presence of an inert gas to etch and activate the surface of the woven substrate;
- and
- exposing the etched and activated surface of the woven or knit substrate to a plasma gas discharge in the presence of a fluorinated hydrocarbon gas, wherein the surface becomes coated by a thin, covalently bound fluorocarbon polymer, characterized by being highly cross-linked and by not changing the mechanical behavior of the woven or knit substrate material or its surface texture.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.