McMaster researchers create ‘smart’ surfaces

Treatment of implants allows for tissue integration and prevents complications

McMaster researchers have created “smart” surfaces that allow medical implants to bond to the body without the risk of complications like infection or blood clotting.

For example, when it comes to replacing a heart valve with a synthetic one, a repellent coating on the implant can prevent blood cells from sticking and forming clots.

While completely repellent surfaces have existed since 2011 for uses like waterproofing phones and warding off bacteria from food-preparation areas, research published Thursday in the ACS Nano journal discovered surfaces that are “selectively” repellent to some targets yet allow “beneficial elements” to bond with them.

“The significance is basically in having smarter surfaces that can realize what’s going on around them and interact better,” said Dr. Tohid Didar of McMaster University’s department of mechanical engineering and school of biomedical engineering.

The surfaces allow for tissue integration, while at the same time preventing complications, said Didar, who is the paper’s senior author.

“A coating that repels blood cells could potentially eliminate the need for medicines such as Warfarin that are used after implants to cut the risk of clots,” paper co-author Sara M. Imani, a McMaster PhD student in biomedical engineering, said in a news release.

If the coating was completely repellent, it would prevent the body from integrating the new valve into the tissue of the heart, she said.

By designing the surface to only adhere to heart tissue cells, the researchers make it possible for the body to integrate the new valve naturally and avoid rejection.

The same would be true for other implants like artificial joints or stents to open blood vessels, according to a news release.

This new nanotechnology also has the potential to reduce false positives and negatives in medical tests by eliminating interference by untargeted elements in blood and urine.

When it comes to diagnostic testing, the repellent surfaces could make it more accurate by allowing the test’s particular target like a virus or cancer cell to stick to the biosensor that is looking for it.

Now that they’ve discovered these “smart” surfaces, the researchers are looking at how to apply their ideas.

They have collaborated with Dr. Jeffrey Weitz of the Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute at Hamilton Health Sciences to understand the challenges related to making successful implants.

Didar said they are looking for industry partners and clinicians to “take it to the next step” and get their work into clinical use.

SARA M. IMANI

A coating that repels blood cells could potentially eliminate the need for medicines such as Warfarin that are used after implants to cut the risk of clots.

Study co-author