Medical devices coated with diamond-like carbon
A medical device that has a sliding or peeling surface coated with diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating. The coating reduces sliding or peeling resistance. The coated substrates may be polymeric. The coating may be applied from a cold plasma of a hydrocarbon gas such as acetylene. Plasmas may be generated to deposit the coating on interior surfaces, exterior surfaces, or both.
1 . A medical device that has a sliding surface wherein the sliding surface is modified with a diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating.
2 . A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the DLC coating is formed on a substrate of polymeric material.
3 . A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the DLC coating thickness is from about 10 to about 10,000 Å.
4 . A medical device as in claim 3 wherein the DLC coating thickness is from about 50 to about 5,000 Å.
5 . A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the DLC coating has a sp 3 carbon-carbon bond percentage of about 10% or more.
6 . A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the device includes a tubular polymeric portion having an exterior surface and the sliding surface coated with DLC includes at least a portion of said exterior surface.
7 . A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the device includes a tubular polymeric portion having an interior lumen surface and the sliding surface coated with DLC includes at least a portion of said interior lumen surface.
8 . A medical device as in claim 1 wherein the device is selected from the group consisting of catheters, balloons, stent placement apparatuses, endoscopes and guide wires.
9 . A medical catheter, balloon, stent placement apparatus, endoscope or guide wire characterized in that it has a surface comprising a coating of diamond-like carbon (DLC).
10 . A medical device for vascular access or surgery, the device comprising a tubular polymeric portion coated with a diamond hard coating (DLC).
11 . A method of providing a medical device sliding surface with reduced sliding resistance, the method comprising coating the sliding surface with diamond-like carbon (DLC).
12 . A method as in claim 11 wherein the sliding surface is coated with DLC by a plasma deposition process.
13 . A method as in claim 11 wherein the DLC coating is deposited to a coating thickness of from about 10 to about 10,000 Å.
14 . A method as in claim 13 wherein the DLC coating is deposited to a coating thickness of from about 50 to about 5,000 Å.
15 . A method as in claim 11 wherein the DLC coating is deposited to provide a sp 3 carbon-carbon bond percentage of about 10% or more.
16 . A method as in claim 15 wherein in the sp 3 carbon-carbon bond percentage is greater than 15%.
17 . A method as in claim 15 wherein in the sp 3 carbon-carbon bond percentage is from about 30% to about 70%.
18 . A method as in claim 15 wherein the DLC is deposited from a plasma comprising at least one member of the group consisting of acetylene, methane, ethane, butane, and cyclohexane.
19 . A method as in claim 11 wherein the sliding surface is treated with a plasma that reacts with the device surface to form said DLC thereon.
20 . A method of treating a surface of a polymeric medical device substrate comprising:
(a) enclosing the polymeric medical device substrate in a reaction chamber with the surface to be coated exposed to the environment of the reaction chamber;
(b) evacuating the reaction chamber to a base level;
(c) supplying a hydrocarbon DLC depositing gas to and establishing a selected hydrocarbon DLC depositing hydrocarbon gas pressure in the reaction chamber; and
(d) igniting a cold plasma in the gas in the chamber and exposing the substrate surface to the plasma for a selected period of time sufficient to form a layer of DLC thereon.
21 . A method as in claim 20 wherein the hydrocarbon DLC depositing gas includes a member selected from the group consisting of acetylene, methane, ethane, butane, cyclohexane, and mixtures thereof.
22 . A method as in claim 20 wherein igniting a plasma in the gas in the chamber is carried out by inductively or capacitively coupling RF power to the gas in the reaction chamber.
23 . A medical device that has surfaces that must be peeled from contact with another in normal use of the device, wherein at least one of said surfaces has a coating of diamond-like carbon (DLC) thereon.
24 . A medical device as in claim 23 wherein said surfaces define an interface between a stent and a stent protection device.