Anti-fouling Coatings for Blood-contacting Medical Devices

Preventing clotting and infection on device surfaces

A variety of medical devices are made from silicones and polyurethanes, but these rapidly adsorb proteins, and cells, often leading to clotting and infection.

What we are doing

Our research is directed at developing coating technologies to prevent protein adsorption and subsequent negative events on medical devices, including reducing clotting and infection, as well as enabling pumpless flow of blood in microfluidic point-of-care devices. Towards this goal, we have developed “PEO-silane amphiphiles” as surface modifying additives (SMAs) for silicones and polyurethane devices.

Publications on this research

Amphiphilic silicones to mitigate lens epithelial cell growth onto intraocular lenses

Marmo, A.C.; Rodriguez Cruz, J.J.; Pickett, J.H.; Lott, L.R.; Theibert, D.S.; Chandler, H.; Grunlan, M.A. “Amphiphilic silicones to mitigate lens epithelial cell growth onto intraocular lenses,” J. Mater. Chem. B, 2022, 10, 3064-3072.

A thin whole blood smear prepared via a pumpless microfluidic

Dogbevi, K.S.; Ngo, B.K.D.; Branan, K.L.; Gibbens, A.M.; Grunlan, M.A.; Coté, G.L. “A thin whole blood smear prepared via a pumpless microfluidic,” Microfluid. Nanofluid., 2021, 25, 59.

Brightfield and fluorescence in-channel staining of thin blood smears generated in pumpless microfluidic

Dogbevi, K.S.; Ngo, B.K.D.; Branan, K.L.; Gibbens, A.M.; Grunlan, M.A.; Coté, G.L. “Brightfield and fluorescence in-channel staining of thin blood smears generated in pumpless microfluidic,” Anal. Methods, 2021, 13, 2238-2247.

Amphiphilic, thixotropic additives for extrusion-based 3D printing of silica-reinforced silicone

Suriboot, J.; Marmo, A.C.; Ngo, B.K.D.; Nigam, A.; Ortiz-Acosta, D.; Tai, B.L.; Grunlan, M.A. “Amphiphilic, thixotropic additives for extrusion-based 3D printing of silica-reinforced silicone,” Soft Matter, 2021, 17, 4133-4142.

Amphiphilic silicones to reduce the absorption of small hydrophobic molecules

Quiñones-Pérez, M.; Cieza, R.; Ngo, B.K.D.*; Grunlan, M.A.; Domenech, M. “Amphiphilic silicones to reduce the absorption of small hydrophobic molecules,” Acta Biomaterialia, 2021, 121, 339-348.

Thromboresistance of polyurethanes modified with PEO-silane amphiphiles

Ngo, B.K.D.; Lim, K.K.; Johnson, J.C.; Jain, A.; Grunlan, M.A. “Thromboresistance of polyurethanes modified with PEO-silane amphiphiles,” Macromol. Biosci. 2020, 2000193.

Pumpless, ‘self-driven’ microfluidic channels with controlled blood flow using an amphiphilic silicone

Dogbevi, K.S.; Ngo, B.K.D.; Blake, C.W.; Grunlan, M.A.; Coté, G.L. “Pumpless, ‘self-driven’ microfluidic channels with controlled blood flow using an amphiphilic silicone,” ACS Appl. Polymer. Mater. 2020, 2, 1731-1738.

Thromboresistance of silicones modified with PEO-silane amphiphiles

Ngo, B.K.D.; Barry, M.E.; Lim, K.K.; Johnson, J.C.; Luna, D.J.; Pandian, N.K.R.; Jain, A.; Grunlan, M.A. “Thromboresistance of silicones modified with PEO-silane amphiphiles,” ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng., 2020, 6, 2029-2037.

Stability of silicones modified with PEO-silane amphiphiles: Impact of structure and concentration

Ngo, B.K.D.; Lim, K.K.; Stafslien, S.J.; Grunlan, M.A. “Stability of silicones modified with PEO-silane amphiphiles: Impact of structure and concentration,” Polym. Degrad. Stab., 2019, 163, 136-142.

Protein resistant polymeric biomaterials

Ngo, B.K.D.; Grunlan, M.A. “Protein resistant polymeric biomaterials,” ACS Macro Lett., 2017, 6, 992-1000.

Anti-protein and anti-bacterial behavior of amphiphilic silicones

Hawkins, M.L.; Schott, S.S.; Grigoryan, B.; Rufin, M.A.; Ngo, B.K.D.; Vanderwal, L.; Stafslien, S.J.; Grunlan, M.A. “Anti-protein and anti-bacterial behavior of amphiphilic silicones,” Polym. Chem., 2017, 8, 5239-5251.

Antifouling silicones based on surface-modifying additive (SMA) amphiphiles

Rufin, M.A.; Ngo, B.K.D.; Barry, M.E.; Page, V.M.; Hawkins, M.L.; Stafslien, S.J.; Grunlan, M.A.. “Antifouling silicones based on surface-modifying additive (SMA) amphiphiles,” Green Mater., 2017, 5, 4-13.

Protein resistance efficacy of PEO-silane amphiphiles: Dependence on PEO-segment length and concentration in silicone

Rufin, M.A.; Barry, M.A.; Adair, P.A.; Hawkins, M.L.; Raymond, J.E.; Grunlan, M.A.. “Protein resistance efficacy of PEO-silane amphiphiles: Dependence on PEO-segment length and concentration in silicone,” Acta Biomaterialia, 2016, 41, 247-252.

Enhancing the protein resistance of silicone via surface-restructuring PEO-silane amphiphiles with variable PEO length

Rufin, M.A.; Gruetzner, J.A.; Hurley, M.J.; Hawkins, M.L.; Raymond, E.S.; Raymond, J.E.; Grunlan, M.A. "Enhancing the protein resistance of silicone via surface-restructuring PEO-silane amphiphiles with variable PEO length," J. Mater. Chem. B. 2015, 3, 2816-2825.

Direct observation of the nanocomplex reorganization of antifouling silicones containing a highly mobile PEO-silane amphiphile

Hawkins, M.L.; Rufin, M.A.; Raymond, J.E.; Grunlan, M.A. “Direct observation of the nanocomplex reorganization of antifouling silicones containing a highly mobile PEO-silane amphiphile,” J. Mater. Chem. Part B, 2014, 2, 5689-5697.

Protein resistance of silicones prepared with a PEO-silane amphiphile

Hawkins, M.L.; Grunlan, M.A. “Protein resistance of silicones prepared with a PEO-silane amphiphile,” J. Mater. Chem. 2012, 22, 19540-19546.

Amphiphilic silicones prepared with branched PEO-silanes with siloxane tethers

Murthy, R.; Bailey, B.M.; Valentin-Rodriguez, C.; Ivanisevic, A.; Grunlan, M.A. “Amphiphilic silicones prepared with branched PEO-silanes with siloxane tethers,” J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem., 2010, 48, 4108-4119.

The influence of poly(ethylene oxide) grafting via siloxane tethers on protein adsorption

Murthy, R.; Shell, C.E.; Grunlan, M.A. “The influence of poly(ethylene oxide) grafting via siloxane tethers on protein adsorption,” Biomaterials 2009, 30, 2433-2439.

Protein-resistant silicones: Incorporation of poly(ethylene oxide) via siloxane tethers

Murthy, R.; Cox, C.D.; Hahn, M.S.; Grunlan, M.A. “Protein-resistant silicones: Incorporation of poly(ethylene oxide) via siloxane tethers,” Biomacromolecules, 2007, 8, 3244-3252.