What the surface zeta potential can tell us about the hemocompatibility of medical devices

What the surface zeta potential can tell us about the hemocompatibility of medical devices

Controlling the surface properties of medical devices is extremely critical for the safety of patients. For instance, in medical tubes and pre-filled syringes the fate of antibodies is affected by protein adsorption. Infections have to be avoided when applying catheters by equipping the silicone surface with an anti-adhesive coating. Dialysis membranes must not exhibit adverse effects and thus guarantee hemocompatibility.

Although different strategies have been developed to ensure a safe application of various medical devices, a common approach is the surface modification by specific thin-film coatings. For the characterization of such coatings a series of surface-sensitive analytical methods is frequently applied. Among these techniques the streaming potential measurement has proven to be a powerful approach. It is sensitive to the outermost surface of solid materials, detects the formation of surface-water interfacial charge, and is applicable to materials with a complex geometry such as polymer tubes, hollow-fiber membranes, or syringe barrels. The streaming potential relates to the surface zeta potential, which not only presents an indicator for the charging behavior of solid-water interfaces but also provides information about the electrostatic interaction between materials surfaces and solutes in an aqueous environment.

In this webinar we highlight selected examples of medical devices and present zeta potential results that contribute to the hemocompatible properties of related material surfaces.

Dr. Thomas Luxbacher (English)
Thomas Luxbacher

Thomas Luxbacher received his PhD degree in Technical Chemistry at Graz University of Technology and looks back at almost 20 years of experience as a product manager in different areas. He is currently the principal scientist for surface charge and zeta potential at Anton Paar GmbH.

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