Analysis of Hydrogel based Hydrophilic Coating for Medical Tubing

Abstract

Coronary artery disease (CAD) claimed 20.28% of the total deaths in Pakistan in 2018. It emerges when atherosclerotic plaques deposit in the endothelium of the coronary arteries which results in disturbance of luminal patency of the coronary artery and hinders the smooth flow of blood to heart muscles resulting in angina pectoris and myocardial infarction. Medical tubing is used extensively for the diagnosis and treatment of CAD. The medical tubing employed in these procedures require hydrophilic coatings because these coatings allow the device to easily navigate through the vasculature, avoiding possible puncture damage to vessel walls and eliminating abrasion between the device surface and the vessel walls. The aim of the present study was to synthesize, characterize and apply a hydrogel-based hydrophilic coating on the medical tubing. Chitosan-Gelatin based hydrogel was synthesized and then coated on the medical tubing via wipe coating. The coated tubing was then subjected to in vitro tests and characterization to analyze its performance in terms of force required for insertion into the vessel and residual particulate release in the simulated media. The Chitosan-Gelatin coated tubing required force in the range of 148-259 grams while the uncoated medical tubing required a force of 495 grams and the commercially available tubing “Ryujin” required a force of ~200 grams. The Chitosan-Gelatin coated tubing displayed better performance in terms of the insertion force required, displacement covered, and residual particulate released compared to the uncoated tubing and the results were comparable with that of commercially available medical tubing