Titanium‐coated dacron® velour: A study of interfacial connective tissue formation

Abstract

Polyethylene terephthalate in textile form (Dacron) has been used extensively as a surgical implant material for applications such as vascular grafts and percutaneous access devices. It is moderately histocompatible eliciting a chronic inflammatory reaction predominately in tissue which has grown into the pores of the fabric. Titanium implants on the other hand, induce only the slightest inflammatory response and connective tissue adhesion to the titanium oxide surface is excellent. It was, therefore, hypothesized that a titanium coating on Dacron fabric might improve its histocompatibility while leaving its desirable mechanical properties unaffected. To test this idea, Dacron velour specimens were coated with titanium by vacuum deposition and were implanted together with uncoated controls in rabbits subcutis. After various implantation times, the specimens were recovered and the associated tissue was examined histologically. Qualitative and semiquantitative analysis revealed that tissue ingrowth quantity and quality was highly variable, not only between test and control specimens, but also between animals and even between specimens within the same animal. This indicated that there may be a number of factors influencing tissue ingrowth that were not adequately controlled in this study. The titanium coating which was undoubtedly highly oxidized had a profound qualitative and quantitative effect on fibroblast activity (ground substance formation) and fibroblast adhesion to the Dacron fibers. The results obtained after these short-term implantation periods indicate that titanium coating affects the quality of the interfacing tissue and may actually improve long-term histocompatibility. Long-term studies will have to confirm these preliminary data.

Fibrous tissue ingrowth and attachment to porous tantalum

“…15 Also studied, although to a lesser extent, is the use of porous biomaterials in procedures involving soft tissue ingrowth. Much of this research has involved studies of the anchorage of percutaneous devices made from materials such as Dacron™ velour, 8,9,16 titanium and stainless steel fiber mesh, [16][17][18][19][20] and hydroxyapatite ceramics. [21][22][23][24] Other studies have focused on the use of polytetrafluorethylene-based porous implants for abdominal defect repairs or maxillofacial reconstruction.…”

Characteristics of titanium‐coated polyester prostheses in the animal model

“…In 1989, Yan and colleagues demonstrated the good histocompatibility of titanium-coated PET implanted in the subcutis of rats. 19 Various polymers that were also coated with titanium using the PACVD method were investigated by Lehle and coworkers 4 In this in vitro investigation involving the seeding of endothelial cells onto titanium-coated PET, the latter was associated with a reduced inflammatory reaction and cytotoxicity in comparison with controls. Our in vivo investigations could not show a benefit of titanium-coated PET vascular prostheses.…”

In vitro Endothelialization and Platelet Adhesion on Titaniferous Upgraded Polyether and Polycarbonate Polyurethanes

“…A recent approach to improve biocompatibility of polymers for biomedical applications is titanium (Ti) upgrading [11–14]. Thin films of titaniumcarboxonitride on different polymer surfaces maintained flexibility of the polymer, increased wettability of the surfaces and supported EC adhesion and sustained anti-inflammatory function of the cells [12,15].…”