Materials

Don't like blood? Neither does this potentially life-saving titanium

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Drops of blood, plasma and water bead up when placed on the superhemophobic titanium
Colorado State University
Drops of blood, plasma and water bead up when placed on the superhemophobic titanium
Colorado State University
While different types of surfaces have been trialled in lab tests, the surface texture and chemistry of fluorinated nanotubes was found to produce the lowest level of platelet adhesion
Colorado State University

When a medical implant such as a stent or catheter is rejected by the body, blood platelets adhere to the device, forming a clot that encapsulates it. Those clots can in turn lead to heart attacks, embolisms or infections. One solution is to put patients on blood-thinning medications for the rest of their lives. Engineers at Colorado State University, however, have developed an alternative – blood-repellent titanium that could be used to build the implants.

More specifically, lead scientists Arun Kota and Ketul Popat have grown superomniphobic (liquid-repelling) surfaces on sheets of titanium. While different types of surfaces have been trialled in lab tests, the surface texture and chemistry of fluorinated nanotubes was found to produce the lowest level of platelet adhesion. They're pictured below.

While different types of surfaces have been trialled in lab tests, the surface texture and chemistry of fluorinated nanotubes was found to produce the lowest level of platelet adhesion
Colorado State University

What it all comes down to is creating a surface that's so superhemophobic – blood-repelling – that the blood doesn't even register the implant as a foreign body that needs to be isolated. "We are taking a material that blood hates to come in contact with, in order to make it compatible with blood," says Kota.

"If we can design materials where blood barely contacts the surface, there is virtually no chance of clotting, which is a coordinated set of events," adds Popat. "Here, we're targeting the prevention of the first set of events."

The scientists are now hoping to test the technology on actual implanted devices. A paper on their research was recently published in the journal Advanced Health Care Materials.

Source: Colorado State University

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4 comments
Gizmowiz
You can try it on my stents anytime.
Christopher Nigel Phillips
There is another way. Those who followed the work of Dr Roger K. Leir, who has appeared on many platforms and broadcast stations, the idea of implants which cause "virtually no inflammatory response" is nothing new. He extracted over a dozen samples of implanted objects that were coated in organic layers which prevented their rejection. Here are some findings: The pathology reports of the first two surgeries revealed that the metallic objects were encased in a very dense, tough, grey membrane consisting of proteinaceous coagulum, hemoseridin and pure keratin. More simply, blood protein and skin cells that are usually found in the superficial layer of the skin. The tough, biological “cocoons” encasing the implants were also found to contain nerve proprioceptors – nerve and pressure cells of the wrong tissue type for that part of the body. These implant cocoons also fluoresced a bright green color in the presence of an ultraviolet light source." See: http://www.mufon.com/alien-implants/alien-implant-removals-before-and-after-effects.
Siyuan Xing
this sounds like a brilliant idea !!
Eggster
Excellent news, but how will it hold up to normal wear & tear?