Abstract
We have developed a new system to evaluate platelet adhesion on the surface of biomaterials under a defined flow condition. This system could be applied to the evaluation of blood compatibility of opaque materials such as metal, ceramics, etc., none of which could be examined in our previous system. In this study, we have evaluated pure-Titanium, SUS-316L, Heparin-immobilized pure-Titanium, Heparin-immobilized SUS316L with this EVM system. Heparin-immobilized metal surfaces showed significantly lower platelet adhesional behavior than did the non-treated metal surfaces (<0.05). In contrast, no significant differences were observed between the other metals. These results showed that heparin immobilization was effective in improving the blood compatibility of metal. Further, it was found that this EVM system was reliable as an in vitro screening method for the evaluation of blood compatibility of opaque biomaterials.
