Reduced adhesion of human blood platelets to polyethylene tubing by microplasma surface modification

Abstract

A hollow-cathode microplasma modified the lumenal surface of small-diameter polyethylene (PE) tubing. A microwave cavity diagnostic was used to measure the density of the microplasma. Plasma light output was observed with a monochromator at various positions along the PE tube to assess uniformity. Treatment effectiveness was evaluated by measuring the variation in capillary rise at various positions along the tubing. A correlation between the properties of the inner surface of the PE tubing and the emitted light intensity was found. A poly(ethylene oxide) surfactant was immobilized to the lumenal surface of the PE tubing with an argon microplasma discharge. To test hematocompatibility, an in vitro blood-flow loop circulated heparinized human blood through both a plasma-treated and -untreated PE tubes, simultaneously. After blood exposure, the tubes were examined with a scanning electron microscope to assess the density of adhering platelets along the length of the tubes. By modifying the plasma parameters, the uniformity of the microplasma treatment along the tubing can be optimized.

Microdischarges for use as microthrusters: modelling and scaling

“…They are being investigated for possible use as, for example, excimer lighting sources [6], hydrogen production [7,8] and diamond deposition [9]. Radio frequency (rf) excited MDs are also being studied for use in lighting and surface modification [10][11][12]. For example, Eden et al [13] demonstrated MD sources operating at 5-20 kHz using rare gas and Ar/N 2 mixtures in large-arrays of up to 40 000 pixels.…”

Proliferation-Related Activity in Endothelial Cells Is Enhanced by Micropower Plasma

“…Recently, plasma has been developed for a wide range of medical applications such as sterilization [1, 2], surface modification of a medical equipment [3], and blood coagulation [4]. They are generically known as “plasma medicine” [5].…”

Control of uniformity of plasma-surface modification inside of small-diameter polyethylene tubing using microplasma diagnostics

“…Detailed procedures of the protocol for the blood compatibility testing of the plasma modified tubes have been described elsewhere [23] and are only briefly described here. A peristaltic pump circulated blood through two separate 26-cm long PE tubes, one of which was PEO plasma-immobilized, while the other remained untreated.…”

“…In this paper, we describe a new approach for treating small-diameter polymer tubing [23] and we make use of two microplasma diagnostics to monitor the plasma properties during the treatment process. Hollow cathode (HC) electrodes [24]- [26] were placed in vacuum at each end of the PE tubing creating a microplasma along the entire length of the tubing.…”

“…This includes, but is not limited to, artificial blood vessels (vascular grafts) of various diameters, as well as catheters. Plasma modification has been used to treat the lumenal surfaces of polyethylene terephthalate [19], [20] (PET, Dacron), expanded polytetrafluoroethylene, [19], [21] (ePTFE), polyethylene [22], [23] (PE), and polyurethane [7] tubes. The traditional method for coating the lumenal surfaces of these polymer tubes uses plasma polymerization (PP) of a monomer gas so as to modify the surface of the material directly or to introduce functional groups that can later be used to immobilize specific biomolecules or proteins.…”