Structured surfaces for hemocompatibility

The rise of micro- and nano-technologies has brought to light intriguing examples of scale-driven performance in a diverse array of fields. The quest to create highly hydrophobic surfaces is one such field. The application of this new generation of hydrophobic surfaces, however, has not received much research attention in comparison to the development of new methods to create surfaces. The one application of super hydrophobic surfaces that has received significant attention is their ability to resist fouling by dirt and other contaminants. Much of the attention paid to this application is due to the discovery that the Lotus flower and several other plants use nano-structure to keep themselves clean, a property that has an important place in the world of biomedical engineering. Any biomedical device that is implanted in the body has to avoid the body's natural defense system, which can quickly cause device failure. One of these natural defenses specific to blood is the clotting reaction. Any surface, implanted or external, that comes into contact with blood is considered an intruder, and the blood seeks to isolate the object by clotting on the foreign surface.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2005

Author dc:creator

• Schrauth, Anthony J

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Nam P. Suh.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/35643

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/35643