To Avoid A Foreign Body Reaction For Polyurethane Implants Modified By High-Energy Ions

All implants induce the foreign body reaction in the patient's body. This reaction is triggered by a change in the conformation of body proteins on the implant surface and by mechanical effect on the surrounding tissues and cells. In this work, we investigate the reaction of the laboratory rats to soft polyurethane implant treated with high-energy nitrogen ions from a glow discharge plasma. After the treatment, a hydrophilic carbon nanolayer is formed on the polymers surface. Body proteins covalently bind to this nanolayer, maintaining their activity and conformation. The histological analysis shows that the density of distribution of granulocytes is 2-9 times less around the plasma-treated implants compared to untreated ones. At the same time, the collagen capsule is 1.5-2 times thinner. However, for the implants with the hardest and irregular surface, the growth of a collagen capsule is observed with a longer exposure to the body. Ion-plasma treatment of polyurethane implants allow reduce the foreign reaction response to when they are implanted into the body. There are threshold modes of ion-plasma treatment, beyond which a decrease in the foreign body reaction is not ensured.