Initial surface interaction of blood and blood components with Al2O3 and TiO2

Abstract

AbstractThe success of material implants in the vascular system has been limited by the fact that the intial events of blood coagulation on foreign material surfaces are not understood. Many materials have been evaluated in the search for a suitable implant material in this system. Recent success of porous ceramic materials in bone‐ceramic compatibility studies stimulated the feeling that these materials should be tested in other body tissues such as the blood.Ceramic disks of Al2O3 and TiO2 were evaluated using a contact angle measurement technique to determine the characteristics of these material surfaces before and after exposure to a blood environment. This technique involved measuring the contact angle of sessile drops of various liquids on these surfaces with a microscope fitted with a goniometer eyepiece. By plotting these contact angles according to the procedure of Zisman, the characteristics of the surfaces could be evaluated.The clean ceramic disks were found to be extremely wettable even after exposure to a physiological saline environment. On exposure of these disks to a blood environment, it was observed that some type of film was adsorbed from the blood onto the ceramic surface during the initial minutes of exposure. This film had wetting characteristics consistent with layers of fibrinogen.