Towards the development of a bioartificial lung – Endothelialisation of TiO2 coated oxygenator membranes

Introduction: Currently, the use of extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) devices, which is indicated for patients awaiting lung transplantation, is limited to a few weeks only, due to thrombus formation and deposition of blood components within the device. Therefore, the basic idea is to improve the haemocompatibility by endothelialisation of the poly-4-methyl-1-pentene gas exchange membranes (PMP), which necessitates the development of coating techniques for the mediation of endothelial cell adhesion to the hydrophobic polymers. The pulsed vacuum cathodic arc plasma deposition (PVCAPD) technique has been…