PHOTOCHEMICALLY BONDED SLIPPERY SURFACES FOR MEDICAL DEVICE MATERIALS

THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THE BENEFIT OF UTILIZING PHOTOCHEMISTRY AS A GENERIC METHOD FOR INTRODUCINGBONDED, SLIPPERY COATINGS TO MEDICAL DEVICES. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THIS APPROACH WILL BE SUPERIOR TO CURRENT METHODS. THIS TECHNOLOGY WILL BE USED TO PREPARE SURFACES THAT ARE "WET-STATE LUBRICIOUS" (I.E., REQUIRING HYDRATION TO BE SLIPPERY) AND SURFACES THAT ARE "DRY-STATE LUBRICIOUS"(I.E., SLIPPERY WITHOUT HYDRATION). THE AIMS OF THIS PHASE I PROJECT WILL BE TO SYNTHESIZE THESEPHOTOACTIVATIBLE, "SLIPPERY" POLYMERS; DEMONSTRATE PHOTOIMMOBILIZATION OF THESE DERIVATIVES TO STANDARD MEDICAL DEVICE MATERIALS; AND MEASURE THE REDUCED COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION PRODUCED BY THESE COATINGS. THE RESEARCH WILL NOT FOCUS ON A PARTICULAR MEDICAL DEVICE DURING PHASE I, BUT WILL DEMONSTRATE THE GENERIC APPLICABILITY OF THIS TECHNOLOGY TO A RANGE OF POLYMERIC MATERIALS. COMPARISONS WILL BE MADE TO NONMODIFIED, PLASMA-TREATED, AND CURRENT COMMERCIAL COATING MATERIALS. DURING PHASE II, IT IS PLANNED TO IMPROVE AND OPTIMIZE THE PHOTOIMMOBILIZATION PROCESS AND TO DEMONSTRATE THE COMPATIBILITY OF THESE COATINGS IN ANIMAL IMPLANT STUDIES.