Improve the durability of lubricious coatings on guide wires and micro catheters

Lubricious coatings are best described as “slippery when wet” yet non-slippery when dry. They facilitate the insertion and manipulation of guide wires and catheters into the body, reducing patient trauma and risk of infection. Hydrophilic materials, such polyvinylpyrrolidone, hydrate profusely in aqueous media. It is this hydration ability that gives these hydrophilic materials their lubricious properties.

For a lubricious coating to be effective on a medical device it must adhere to the substrate well enough that it doesn’t come off during usage. Herein lays the technology. Plasma surface treatment provides the means to chemically bond hydrophilic molecules to various materials. Plasma treatment conditions the surface by cleaning it from contaminants and activating it by providing energy that can e used in bonding. Following this, plasma can be used to chemically functionalize the surface for selective chemical reaction with the “anchoring” end of a hydrophilic molecule. Alternatively, the plasma process can polymerize a supporting polymer onto the surface, then chemically functionalize this plasma polymer to bond with the “anchoring” end of the hydrophilic molecule. Plasma should be regarded as an enabling technology for creative researchers putting theory into practice.