ABSTRACT
Different materials, including polysulfones, polyurethanes, polyamides, silicone rubber, and polysaccharides, are used in biomedical domains, as implant materials, tissue engineering scaffolds, blood-contacting devices, and disposable clinical apparatus [1-4]. To establish blood-compatible polymeric compounds, bio-reactions and bio-responses involving the adhesion of blood components, platelet adhesion, plasma protein phase, and coagulation process activation must be known [5,6]. Adverse reactions of cellular response caused by polymeric materials are major subjects in the fundamental research of biomedical polymers. Thus, in order to obtain the desired properties of biomedical applications, studies concerning a delicate control of interactions between blood and surface of the polymer compound should be performed [7]. Generally, blood is a uid consisting of red blood cells (4.2-6.2·106/mm3, 99.9%), white blood cells, or leukocytes, (5-9·103/mm3, <0.1%), platelets (250-400·103/mm3,<0.1%), and a intracellular liquid substance (plasma) consisting of a water solution with protein and salts. Blood xes oxygen in the lungs and transports it to the tissues and cells of the whole body; in the intestine, it also takes the nutrients resulting from digestion and intestinal absorption, transporting them for use in the tissues and organs. The unnecessary substances resulting from the cellular assimilation and nonassimilation are carried by the blood to the bodies responsible for transformation and elimination. Blood (which constitutes about 8% of the total body weight of the human organism, with a volume around 5 liters, in adults) has also the role of transporting the hormones produced by the endocrine glands. White blood cells play the important role of defending the body against microbes, destroying them by phagocytosis (potting and digestion) or immunological (antibodies) processes. Outside the body, the blood coagulates, due to the transformation of
8.1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 233 8.2 Biocompatible Hemodialysis Membranes ....................................................234 8.3 Biocompatibility in the Medical Device Industry of Polysulfone
Compounds ................................................................................................ 236 8.4 Interaction of Blood Components with Polysulfone Surfaces ...................... 243 8.5 General Remarks ..........................................................................................248 References ..............................................................................................................249
