Multifunctional Anti-Biofouling Stent Coatings based on Self-Assembled Monolayers

Biofouling on medical implants is promoted by the non-specific adsorption of proteins from biological environment. The result is changes to the surface properties that is subsequently followed by uncontrolled cell attachment resulting in failure of the implant. For example, proteins such as albumin and fibrinogen can adsorb onto implanted stent surfaces from blood resulting in the attachment of cells such as macrophages causing adverse responses that render these types of materials ineffective requiring repeat of the stenting procedure. Such shortcomings require the development of new functional surfaces to prevent the biofouling process that results in implant rejection. This body of work investigates tailored coating designed for stent implant to prevent restenosis to mitigate short and long-term failure. Protein adsorption on coatings surfaces to be assessed as precursor step for cell attachments and coagulation. In this study bovine serum albumin BSA and fetal bovine serum FBS are chosen to represent the majority of proteins in stent environment after implanting.