Method of attaching heparin to, and immobilizing it on, inorganic substrate surfaces of cardiovascular implants

Abstract

A method of attaching heparin to, and immobilizing it on, inorganic substrate surfaces of cardiovascular implants such as cardiac valves or alloplastic vessel wall supports, comprising the following steps: activation of the inorganic substrate surface by etching, attachment, by exposure to ultraviolet light, of a photoactive benzophenone compound with an amino protective group as a spacer to the activated substrate surface, splitting off of the amino protective group by the aid of a non-aqueous piperidine solution, and covalent peptide-bonding of heparin to the free and reactive amino groups of the substrate surface by an aqueous heparin solution acting on the amino groups.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.