Surface coating for medical devices prevents blood clotting and bacterial infections

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NewbieSlo

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Our bodies have evolved to be pretty good at dealing with incursions by foreign objects and bacteria. Usually, that's a positive thing, but it can spell trouble for medical devices, such as replacement joints, cardiac implants and dialysis machines, which increase the risk of blood clots and bacterial infection. Now researchers at Harvard University have developed a surface coating that smooths the way for medical devices to do their job inside the human body.

...The coating was developed from materials already approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with the team claiming it repelled blood from more than 20 different substrates made from materials commonly used in medical devices, such as plastic, glass and metal. The coating also repelled bacteria and suppressed the formation of biofilm.


http://www.gizmag.com/slips-surface...ail&utm_term=0_65b67362bd-3b3921d1f1-91297037


Perhaps one day mechanical valves will be made from such coating, that no coumadin (warfarin) will be needed.
 
Chaconne - I also thought of that, but did not research it further. Perhaps I'll take some time for research, but I'm on business trip so my days are full. Hopefully next week I will have some more time.
 
Hi

chaconne;n848655 said:
Good stuff. I wonder how this compares with the smoothness of the latest mechanical valve technology like the On-X.
well looking at their promo shots I'd say "chalk and cheese"

Much is made here of the On-X valve as having some special advanced properties, and why not, they sponsor the site. Stepping aside from the marketing Kool-Aid I expect that the reality is that the On-X the St Jude and the ATS / Medtronics valves are all within a "poof-teenth" of each other. Nothing I've read in any journal or evaluation of them has made any observation that one has a surface advantage over the other.

ATS (as you may know) is developing a surface coating system called "Forcefield" (yes, I *know* ... that name) and in the promo PDF for that you can find a picture of an uncoagulated Mitral valve placed into an animal to demonstrate the level of platelet adhesion to the surfaces.
15537748545_c3e977274c_o.jpg


So that's what you're valve surface will likely look like if you were to go uncoagulated for a similar period, be it St Jude, ATS or On-X.

That people are lax in their anti-coagulation is in my opinion part of why tissue valves are pushed by the medical people, for they know well the outcomes.

ATS is being tight lipped about their process (unlike this research group) and so it may be a related product technology.

None the less, as promising as it is, another reason for anti coagulation (even with magic slippery valves) is that for moments during valve opening and valve closing the blood jet velocity is sufficiently high to trigger thrombogenesis, meaning a clot will form and may just float down stream snowballing dutiful platelets until its either broken down or lodges somewhere and blocks a blood vessel.

:)
 
Good news! The future holds promise for so many improvements to the amazing technologies and techniques already available.
 

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