Stent is one of the coronary angioplasty techniques that expands the narrowed coronary arteries due to the accumulation of fat, cholesterol and other substances in the lumen of the arteries. The major complication of stent is restenosis. Current development of drug-eluting stents shows successfully reduce the occurrence of restenosis. Other than using drugs, electrostatic self assembled (ESAd) thin films may be the potential candidates to prevent restenosis.
ESA is a process to fabricate thin films bases on the electrostatic attraction between two oppositely charges. We used this technique to fabricate four PVP films and four PEI films. All films were exanimated by XPS and AFM. XPS data showed our coatings were successfully fabricated on substrates. AFM images revealed PVP coating was uniform, but PEI coatings had different morphologies due to diffusion and pH during the process.
Three preliminary hemocompatibility testes were performed to evaluate the hemocompatibility of the coatings. Platelet adhesion study showed the thin films inhibited platelet adhesion. All thin films were able to inhibit coagulation and were less cytotoxic. The studies suggested the ESA films were potentially hemocompatible.
