A Novel Blood Incubation System for the In-vitro Assessment of Interactions Between Platelets and Biomaterial Surfaces Under Dynamic Flow Conditions: The Hemocoater

Hemocompatibility evaluation of biomaterials necessitates the use of blood incubation systems which simulate physiological flow conditions. However, most of the current systems have various limitations, especially restricted material variability, poor access to the test surface or damage of blood cells due to the use of a pump. In this paper, we combined the advantages of existent setups and developed a new planar shaped incubation test bench to lift those restrictions and mimic the pulsatile in-vivo situation. The adjustable flow conditions at the tested material surface were defined and corresponded to those in blood vessels. Platelet/material-interaction, as major aspect of hemocompatibility, was investigated for four common polymeric materials (polyoxymethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene and silicone elastomer) with platelet deprivation and platelet adhesion tests. Highly significant differences in the adhesion of platelets onto the tested material surfaces were measured. The number of adhered platelets on the most hydrophobic sample (silicone elastomer) was four-times higher than on the most hydrophilic sample (polyoxymethylene). These findings were confirmed with a scanning microscopic analysis and demonstrated the suitability of the testing device for the evaluation of platelet/material interactions. Moreover, hemolysis measurements demonstrated that the system did not provoke blood damage. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 2430-2440, 2016.