ISSN:
0021-9304
Keywords:
Chemistry
;
Polymer and Materials Science
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Medicine
,
Technology
Notes:
In previous studies from our laboratories, it was shown that metals and alloys which register negative potentials in blood vs. the normal hydrogen electrode (NHE) tend to be antithrombogenic, while those with positive potentials are invariably thrombogenic. Of the metals, only the corrodible ones fall in the first group and the noble ones in the second. Blood compatible metals appear to be essential for some types of medical devices. This paper deals with a novel approach of maintaining an implanted metallic prostheses at a negative potential. A copper vascular prostheses in a dog was made the cathode in a polarizing circuit, which in addition consists of a smal mercury battery, a resistor and an auxiliary electrode. Such experiments were conducted in three animals, and the potentials ranged from -60 to -160 mV/NHE. The three dogs were sacrificed after 6, 8, and 14 days and the tubes were examined. All tubes were free of thrombus deposits; minimal junctional thrombi were found. Two copper tubes with no polarizing circuit and registering positive potentials were occluded after 8 and 14 days, respectively. Histologic and electron-microscopic studies of the thrombus deposits in tubes at spontaneous potentials and of the junctional thrombus deposits in the tube at negative potentials showed similar structures. The present experiments further confirm the view that the potential across the conductive material-blood interface is a more basic parameter than the chemical nature of the surface in determining its blood-compatible characteristic.
Additional Material:
3 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jbm.820060603
