Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- Bayer MaterialScience has highlighted the advantages of using its recently introduced Baymedix CL 100 lubricious surface treatment for cardiovascular catheters and other medical devices.
Baymedix CL 100, "a unique, slippery-when-wet coating," can be adapted to many substrates but is especially suitable for application to elastomeric materials common in catheters, such as polyether-block amide and polyurethane and nylon, BMS said in a 31 March press release.
In contrast to other lubricious and hydrophilic coatings, CL 100 is directly grafted onto the surface of the medical device rather than applied as a separate coating, giving improved durability and adhesion.
CL 100 can also be applied to the lumens, or inside surface, of catheters. Lumen coatings are useful where one catheter or device needs to be passed through another. "Because the coating is grown directly from the device surface, there's really no limit to the shape of part we can treat," said Paul Nowatzki, medical business development manager, BMS.
Lubricious coatings reduce the amount of friction encountered between a medical device and a patient's tissue, giving surgeons better handling and is easy to manoeuvre when performing procedures like cardiovascular stenting, the statement said. (RD)
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