Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
evidence about the platelets' adhesion onto a-C:H surfaces, paving the way for its utiliza-
tion in the real-time study of cellular interactions with surfaces. The correlation between
nanotopography, structural characteristics, and wettability of carbon-based thin films
and their thrombogenicity was verified, whereas the different deposition conditions of RF
reactive magnetron sputtering led to different structural and surface properties of the car-
bon thin films. The AFM study of a-C:H thin films concerning platelets aggregation (refer
to Figure 2.13) shows that the films grown without ion bombardment during deposition
with 5% H
2
in plasma exhibit less thrombogenicity compared to the biased ones grown
with ion bombardment, attributing partially to their higher surface roughness and surface
chemistry properties (e.g., lower contact angle and higher surface free energy). Lousinian
(a)
nM
120
100
nM
80
nM
10,000
60
nM
8000
10000
40
8000
6000
6000
4000
20
4000
2000
2000
0
0
0
nM
20,000
nM
800
(b)
700
15,000
600
500
10,000
400
300
5000
200
100
0
0
nM
0
5000
10,000
15,000
FIGURE 2.13
AFM topography image of (a) platelets on a-C:H (biased) after 1 h incubation. Circles show activated “egg-like”
type platelets; (b) platelets on a-C:H (biased) after 2 h incubation. Arrows indicate platelet aggregation and for-
mation of clusters. (Reprinted with permission from Karagkiozaki et al.,
Mater. Sci. Eng. B
, 152, 16, 2008.)
