Two new radiopaque polymeric biomaterials

Two new polymeric materials (polymers A and B) contg. covalently bound iodine were prepd. These polymers were evaluated with respect to their possible use as radiopaque implant biomaterials-i.e., materials that are visible in a noninvasive manner using routine X-ray absorption imaging techniques. Polymer A is a copolymer of Me methacrylate (MMA) and 4-IC6H4O2CCMe:CH2 (I) (80 and 20 mol%, resp.). Polymer B was prepd. from MMA, I, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) (mol ratio 65:20:15, resp.). I was synthesized from 4-iodophenol and methacryloyl chloride. The resulting polymers were characterized with GPC, DSC, NMR, and by measuring both the advancing and receding contact angles. Thrombogenicity of the polymers was detd. by an in vitro thrombin generation test procedure. The max. concn. of free thrombin was 76 +- 1 nM for polymer A, and 64 +- 3 nM for polymer B. The lag times (i.e., time onset of thrombin generation) were 392 s for polymer A and 553 s for polymer B. For PVC-T, which is known as a passive material, a lag time of 583 s was found. This indicates that polymer B is comparable to PVC-T, and more passive than polymer A. Polymer A exhibited minor activation of platelets. Polymer B did not induce platelet activation at all. The polymers exhibited, even as fibers with a diam. of ca. 0.3 mm, good radiopacity with routine imaging X-ray techniques in the clinic. It is argued that polymers A and B-which actually represent a whole family of radiopaque polymeric biomaterials-exhibit promising properties with respect to applications as construction materials for a new generation of endovascular stents. [on SciFinder (R)]