Surface alkylation of a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel

We have previously demonstrated that a heparin-polyvinyl alcohol (hep-PVA) hydrogel has the ability to effectively reduce thrombin levels and prevent fibrin formation, but has little effect on platelets. The observation by many investigators that an albumin coated surface leads to minimal platelet adhesion, aggregation, or release has led to the development of surfaces with a high affinity for albumin using alkyl substitution. Hence it was proposed to improve the platelet compatibility of the base PVA hydrogel (without heparin) by alkylation with long aliphatic chains (C18). This technique appears promising in that endogenous albumin may be reversibly sorbed to the polymer surface thus providing, in theory, a renewable non-thrombogenic coating.