ABSTRACT
An ingenious method to prevent platelet adhesion to foreign surfaces involves the perfusion of a physiologic fluid through pores of various synthetic materials into blood. When foreign surfaces come in contact with plasma or with whole blood, the available evidence indicates that most of them become coated with proteins within a few seconds after the initial contact. Blood compatibility may depend on the complex interactions of the dissolved macromolecular chains, their conformations, and perhaps on how water is structured and bonded. The term “hydrogel” applied to blood compatibility, necessarily stresses water as the swelling medium. The presence of large quantities of water in the biological tissue and the mode of molecular organization give rise to critical biological functions. The interactions between water and macromolecular solutes in the cytoplasm have been subject to investigations with techniques such as high voltage electron microscopy, electron spin resonance, and nuclear magnetic resonance.
