Super-hydrophilic structures
A polydioxanone film comprising substantially cylindrical polydioxanone pillars on at least one side thereof, said pillars having diameters from about 0.2 μm to about 3 μm, and heights from about 2 μm to about 20 μm from the surface of the film, a process for adsorbing proteins using the film and medical devices incorporating the film.
1. A polydioxanone film comprising polydioxanone pillars having circular cross-sections integrally molded with and extending from the surface of at least one side of said film, said pillars having diameters from about 0.2 μm to about 3 μm, and heights of from about 2 μm to about 20 μm from the surface of the film, wherein the polydioxanone pillars demonstrate super-hydrophilicity.
2. The polydioxanone film of claim 1 , wherein the pillars are treated with an oxygen plasma to increase the oxygen content of said polydioxanone pillars, relative to untreated polydioxanone pillars.
3. The polydioxanone film of claim 2 , wherein the polydioxanone pillars have heights of about 20 μm from the surface of the film, having a static water contact angle of less than about 10°.
4. The polydioxanone film of claim 1 , wherein the polydioxanone pillars have diameters from about 0.6 μm to about 1 μμm, heights of about 20 μm from the surface of the film, having a static water contact angle of less than about 10°.
5. The polydioxanone film of claim 1 , which has a protein adsorption capacity from about 2.5 μg/cm 2 to about 6.0 μg/cm 2 of the film surface.
6. The polydioxanone film of claim 5 , which has a protein adsorption capacity from about 4.0 μg/cm 2 to about 6.0 μg/cm 2 of the film surface.
7. A process for adsorbing proteins, comprising exposing a protein-containing solution to a polydioxanone film comprising polydioxanone pillars having circular cross-sections integrally molded with and extending from the surface of at least one side of said film, said pillars having diameters from about 0.2 μm to about 3 μm, and heights from about 2 μm to about 20 μm from the surface of the film, wherein the polydioxanone pillars demonstrate super-hydrophilicity.
8. The process of claim 7 , wherein the pillars are treated with an oxygen plasma to increase the oxygen content of said polydioxanone pillars, relative to untreated polydioxanone pillars.
9. The process of claim 7 , wherein the polydioxanone pillars have diameters from about 0.6 μm to about 1 μm, heights of about 20 μm from the surface of the film, having a static water contact angle of less than about 10°.
10. The process of claim 8 , wherein the polydioxanone pillars have heights of about 20 μm from the surface of the film, having a static water contact angle of less than about 10°.
11. The process of claim 7 , wherein the polydioxanone film has a protein adsorption capacity from about 2.5 μg/cm 2 to about 6.0 μg/cm 2 of the film surface.
12. The process of claim 11 , wherein the polydioxanone film has a protein adsorption capacity from about 4.0 μg/cm 2 to about 6.0 μg/cm 2 of the film surface.
13. A medical device comprising a polydioxanone film comprising polydioxanone pillars having circular cross-sections integrally molded with and extending from the surface of at least one side of said film, said pillars having a diameter from about 0.2 μm to about 3 μm, and a height of up to about 2 μm to about 20 μm from the surface of the film, wherein the polydioxanone pillars demonstrate super-hydrophilicity.
14. The medical device of claim 13 , which has improved biocompatibility as compared to an implant device without said film.
15. The medical device of claim 13 , which has an increased capacity for protein adsorption as compared to a flat polydioxanone film.