Surface modification of cardiovascular medical devices plays a crucial role when it comes to improving their effectiveness and safety. Hydrophilic coatings for cardiovascular devices can improve biocompatibility, prevent blood clots, and increase the overall performance of the devices.
This guide highlights the importance of applying hydrophilic medical device coatings to cardiovascular devices. We will cover the use and benefits of these coatings for several devices.
What are Cardiovascular Medical Devices (CMDs)
Cardiology focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels. Such conditions are commonly known as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). These are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
The growing number of patients with cardiovascular problems led to the development of many sophisticated cardiovascular medical devices (CMDs) and implants. Healthcare professionals and surgeons use specialized cardiac devices depending on the type of cardiovascular disease the patient is experiencing.
What are Hydrophilic Coatings?
Surface treatment is used to modify the surface properties and improve the effectiveness of medical devices. This includes cardiovascular devices. One of, if not the most common surface treatment is hydrophilic coatings.
What are these specialized coatings?
The term “hydro” means water, and “philic” means affinity or love.
Hydrophilic coatings make the medical device surfaces “water-loving.” When they are exposed to bodily fluids, a thin, highly lubricious layer is formed on the medical device.
These lubricious coatings create a surface with an extremely low coefficient of friction and high wettability. This greatly reduces friction, among other helpful properties. As such, this type of medical coating is a good choice for use with cardiovascular devices and implants. When applied to devices such as intravascular catheters and guidewires, they ensure smooth and safe navigation through complex anatomical pathways.
In addition, Hydromer® medical device coatings are biocompatible. They can also be custom-formulated to provide other functionalities such as thromboresistance, antimicrobial properties that help reduce infections, and more.
Benefits of Hydrophilic Coatings for Cardiovascular Devices
Hydrophilic coatings provide several key benefits when they are used on cardiovascular devices. We discuss these benefits below.
1. Reduced Friction
Hydrophilic coatings are lubricious. They create a low-friction surface when hydrated. They also have high wettability, meaning that fluids will disperse well over the surface of the device. This is important so that the entire surface provides lubrication.
As such, cardiac surgeons can easily insert and withdraw medical devices such as catheters and guidewires. They may experience reduced frictional force of up to 90% during operational procedures.
Hydrophilic coatings offer excellent lubricity and significantly improve navigation through narrow, tortuous, and delicate blood vessels.
One doctor reported:
“I can get 90-95% of the device performance through materials and design criteria. However, the last 5-10% of the desired device performance is only achievable through surface modification coatings”
In short, it makes the surgeon’s job much easier and improves the outcome for the patient.
2. Thromboresistance
Thrombosis (blood clotting) is a major complication in cardiovascular procedures. That’s why cardiac devices that are inserted or implanted into the body must be designed with anti-thrombogenic properties. Thromboresistant coatings help prevent serious health issues, such as atrial fibrillation, strokes, and heart attacks.
Hydrophilic coatings are “slippery-when-wet” surface modifications. They prevent the blood from adhering to the surface of medical devices and implants.
Learn more about the importance and benefits of thromboresistant coatings.
3. Antimicrobial Properties
As reported by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, around 3.2 million EU patients are affected by healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) or surgical site infections (SSIs) annually. Similarly, according to an article by PSNet, “more than one million HAIs occur across the United States healthcare system every year.”
Healthcare related infections are one of the major complications in orthopedic, dental, and cardiovascular procedures. As a result, the use of antimicrobial coatings has been significantly increased over the past decades. Hydromer® Hydrophilic Coatings can be custom-formulated with antimicrobial properties. They offer a multifunctional solution for cardiovascular devices, preventing the growth of microorganisms and reducing the risk of HAIs.
4. Biocompatibility
Both biocompatibility and functionality are critical aspects of cardiovascular devices.
- Medical devices are considered biocompatible when they perform their intended functions without causing any potential harm to biological tissues and fluids.
- On the other hand, biofunctional medical devices perform effectively within the biological environment. Simply put, such devices affect living organisms. For example, they can influence how the organism functions, processes, or reacts to the substance.
These properties are particularly helpful in the case of cardiovascular implants. Before being placed in the human body, it needs to be confirmed that the devices are biocompatible.
Many materials that are used in medical devices are not biocompatible. This is why surface modification is necessary. And one of the most common surface treatments are hydrophilic surface coatings.
Hydrophilic biocompatible coatings are non-toxic and non-carcinogenic. In other words, they are biocompatible. They help cardiac devices function safely and effectively within the biological environment.
Learn more about the uses and benefits of biocompatible coatings in biomedical engineering.
5. Improved Longevity & Durability
Most cardiovascular implants are designed using stainless steel, cobalt-chromium alloys, and titanium. They include stents, pacemakers, and heart valves. Their long-term functionality heavily depends upon corrosion resistance and durability. This is because they are continuously exposed to corrosive and dynamic biological environments.
Hydrophilic coatings help prevent the degradation of these implants from adverse biological reactions. They are not affected by the electrochemical environment of blood and the presence of various ions. Also, hydrophilic coatings can be customized to withstand significant mechanical stresses.
In short, they help improve the durability and longevity of the devices.
Cardiovascular Devices Coated with Hydrophilic Coatings
The effectiveness and safety of cardiac medical devices heavily depends on the surface modification used.
We have already discussed how the application of hydrophilic coatings is crucial in preventing thrombosis, trauma, and biofouling.
Below we provide a list of cardiovascular devices that benefit from hydrophilic medical coatings.
1. Catheters
Catheters are among the most commonly used medical devices for diagnosis and treatment. There are multiple types of catheters. The right choice depends on the underlying surgical intervention.
Here are different types of hydrophilic-coated catheters used in cardiology procedures:
- Diagnostic Catheters help detect coronary artery disease, heart defects, and valve issues. They are inserted into the neck, leg, or arm. Catheters coated with hydrophilic surface coatings to allow for safer, easier, and more precise diagnosis.
- Guiding Catheters are used in all coronary interventions. They help deliver other medical devices to the heart. Hydrophilic coatings help these catheters safely navigate through the heart’s complex structure, among other benefits.
- Balloon Catheters are catheters with a deflated balloon at the tip. They are mostly used in angioplasty to open narrowed or blocked arteries. Lubricious hydrophilic coatings are applied to PTCA or PTA balloon catheters to enable easy delivery to the target location.
- Aspiration Catheters: These are helpful in mechanical thrombectomy to suction blood clots from brain arteries. The lubricious coatings help surgeons remove the clot by allowing for navigation through tortuous blood vessels.
Learn more about hydrophilic catheter coatings.
2. Guidewires
Coronary guidewires are thin, flexible tubes that help surgeons track and navigate through the coronary arteries. They also help them deliver other medical devices, such as catheters and stents, within the artery or heart.
Hydrophilic coatings create a lubricious layer on the surface of these guidewires. It helps cardiac surgeons precisely navigate through the heart’s intricate network of blood vessels.
Learn more about hydrophilic guidewire coatings.
3. Introducer Sheaths
Hydrophilic-coated vascular sheaths are one of the commonly used medical devices. Their main purpose is to create a channel for the smooth insertion of other devices, such as catheters and guidewires. Thanks to hydrophilic coatings, surgeons can easily insert and remove such devices with greatly reduced trauma to patients.
4. Implants
All cardiovascular implants, including pacemakers, cardioverter-defibrillators, and VADs, are subject to corrosion, wear, and infection. That’s one main reason why hydrophilic coatings are applied to them.
Such medical coatings improve protein absorption, cell adhesion, and proliferation. They make hydrophilic coated cardiovascular implants more functional and more suitable for use in the human body.
Hydromer® Hydrophilic Coatings for Cardiovascular Devices
Hydromer®, Inc. has 40+ years of experience manufacturing and supplying advanced hydrophilic coatings. Our medical coatings are trusted by some of the industry’s leading medical device manufacturers. All of our coatings can be custom formulated to meet your device’s specific requirements.
In addition, our company offers contract R&D, custom coating formulation, contract coating services, analytical testing, and more. This means you will get a full-service partner to help you meet your product development goals.
Lastly, we understand the importance of safe and effective cardiovascular devices. We are also familiar with the regulatory requirements of getting these devices to market. That’s why our team includes regulatory experts that can offer guidance during the development process.
Our medical device coatings can be custom-formulated to have the following properties:
- Highly lubricious
- Thromboresistance
- High wettability
- Antimicrobial
- Drug-eluting capabilities
- Biocompatibility
- Low particulate
- Enhanced adhesion
- High durability
Our coatings are available as both thermal-cure and UV-cure medical coatings.
Ready to Develop Your Custom Medical Device Coating?
Do you need to develop a custom medical coating to meet your product requirements? If so, we can help regardless of your stage in the product development process.
We have the technology and expertise to develop a coating made for your device. Our team includes highly qualified Ph.D. chemists, scientists, engineers, and regulatory experts.
But what sets us apart from our competitors is the wide range of support services we offer our medical device partners. Here is a quick list of support services offered by Hydromer:
- Research and Development (R&D) services
- Contract coating services
- Worldwide supply of high-quality medical coatings
- Specialized Analytical Testing
- Custom Machine Building
- Turn-key Operations
- Technology Transfer Services
- Technical consulting and support services
Contact our team of experts today to learn more about our custom coatings and services.
