Titania nanotubes as potential interfaces for vascular applications
Date
2015
Authors
Kelley, Sean Edward, author
Popat, Ketul C., advisor
Reynolds, Melissa, committee member
Sampath, Walajabad S., committee member
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Abstract
The primary fatality of the public worldwide is cardiovascular disease. Surgery is usually the modern answer to these complications including transplanting organs and artificial implants with the latter typically being most successful. Generating long term synergy between the transplants and the surrounding tissue continues to be a problematic causing the necessity for comprehending the complex interactions that occur between the two sides at the cellular level. New implants comprising of either purely cellular platforms or a mixture of synthetic and cellular frameworks have demonstrated tremendous potential for tissue restoration. Preferably, the surface of an implant should be suitable for cells to adhere, proliferate, and in many cases differentiate while performing their required functions as if they were in their own natural environment. The surface of these implants must also have a minimum but ideally no immune response. Titanium and its alloys are extensively employed in biomedical devices, due to their beneficial mechanical and relatively high biocompatible properties. Smooth muscle cells are one of the two major cells varieties that are in contact with vascular stents; consequently the interaction between the cells and the nanotube titania (TiO₂) surface is of the utmost importance. The objective of this research is to examine the cellular response of smooth muscle cells to titania nanotubes as a prospective surface modification to complement titanium vascular stents.
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Subject
implants
smooth muscle
titania nanotubes
nano
biomaterial
stent