New Processes for Surface Treatment of Catheters

Abstract

Infection, thrombosis, and stenosis are among the most common complications of blood-contacting catheters and are caused by surface properties of the substrate materials. Ion beam-based processes such as ion implantation and ion beam-assisted deposition affect only the outer micron of the treated material surface; there is little effect on bulk properties. These processes were therefore used on common catheter materials, and their biological properties were evaluated. Ion implantation of materials such as silicone rubber resulted in a less tacky, more wettable surface that demonstrated thrombus-resistance in both in vivo and preliminary clinical studies. Ion beam-assisted deposition was used to deposit silver-based coatings, which demonstrated antimicrobial activity in in vitro and clinical studies. Biocompatibility of these processed catheter materials was also demonstrated using simple laboratory studies. These processes, therefore, can be readily applied to blood-contacting catheters to make them thrombus- and infection-resistant.

Silver-coated megaendoprostheses in a rabbit model—an analysis of the infection rate and toxicological side effects

“…Sioshansi et al [29] used ion implantation to deposite silver-based coatings on a silicone rubber, which thereafter demonstrated antimicrobial activity. Also silver-copper surface films, sputter-coated onto catheter materials, showed antibacterial activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm formation [30].…”

Silver loading on poly(ethylene terephthalate) fabrics using silver carbamate via thermal reduction

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13] There are a number of ways to obtain silver deposition on PET fabrics. These include ion beam-assisted deposition, 14 plasma-assisted deposition, 15 magnetron-sputtered coating, 16 chemical vapor deposition, 17 and physical vapor deposition. 18,19 However, these processes must be carried out in a vacuum, and this limits the range of applications for which these fabrics can be used.…”

Silver in the medical devices/equipments: Marketing or real clinical interest?

“…They differ from each other through the mode of impregnation of silver. Some catheters are recovered by a uniform coating of 1 mm of silver by a method, i.e., ''ion-beam assisted deposition Spi-silver Spire Corp'' [3]. Silver can be found within the catheter made of polyurethane, combined with carbon and platinum, resulting in gradual release of silver ion by an electrochemical mechanism of oxidoreduction between silver and platinum, while the carbon serves as conductor (process Oligon TM Société Edwards, catheters VANTEX ND ).…”