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IPFS News Link • Science, Medicine and Technology

Don't like blood? Neither does this potentially life-saving titanium

• http://newatlas.com

When a medical implant such as a stent or catheter is rejected by the body, blood platelets adhere to the device, forming a clot that encapsulates it. Those clots can in turn lead to heart attacks, embolisms or infections. One solution is to put patients on blood-thinning medications for the rest of their lives. Engineers at Colorado State University, however, have developed an alternative – blood-repellent titanium that could be used to build the implants.

More specifically, lead scientists Arun Kota and Ketul Popat have grown superomniphobic (liquid-repelling) surfaces on sheets of titanium. While different types of surfaces have been trialled in lab tests, the surface texture and chemistry of fluorinated nanotubes was found to produce the lowest level of platelet adhesion. They're pictured below.

While different types of surfaces have been trialled in lab tests, the surface texture and chemistry...


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