Thesis

Conducting polymers as novel coatings for optimised drug release from coronary stents

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2011
Thesis identifier
  • T13017
Qualification Level
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Department, School or Faculty
Abstract
  • Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is a narrowing of the arteries which supply blood to the heart, and is the leading cause of death in the developed world. The main treatment for CHD is a Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA) procedure, where a metal stent is implanted into the artery to provide mechanical support to ensure the artery does not become renarrowed. Today, the most advanced PTCA procedures use drug-eluting stents, and although these have improved outcomes in many cases, they are not suitable in all patient groups and require the prolonged use of anti-platelet therapy. Consequently, considerable research effort worldwide is now targeted at developing a next generation drug-eluting stent. The conducting polymer, Polypyrrole has demonstrated biocompatibility and has significant potential to enable the generation of enhanced drug release profiles from stents. In this study, polypyrrole and a medium sized anionic drug molecule, sodium salicylate has been coated onto stainless steel substrates using both potentiostatic and cyclic voltammetry electrodeposition in aqueous media. The effects of changes in various polymerisation parameters, such as applied potential and synthesis duration in the case of potentiostatic methods, and scan rate and cycle number in the case of cyclic voltammetry, have been studied. A quantitative analysis of the drug release characteristics from the resultant polymer films was performed by UV spectroscopy. Finally, the morphology of the deposited polypyrrole films was examined using Scanning Electron Microscopy. The results showed that a range of salicylate releasing polypyrrole coatings onto stainless steel can be obtained by varying polymerisation parameters. However, a high degree of variability was observed in the coating process. The drug was released from the different coatings produced for between 3 and 30 days, which is a suitable time range for drug-eluting stent. The coating conditions were also seen to affect the coating surface characteristics, which opens up the possibility of producing specific polymer surfaces that may encourage endothelial cell adhesion and growth.
Resource Type
Note
  • This thesis was previously held under moratorium from 6th June 2012 until 6th June 2015.
DOI
Date Created
  • 2011
Former identifier
  • 940530

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