Characterizations of the TiO(2-x) films synthesized by e-beam evaporation for endovascular applications

Different chemical states of titanium oxide films were deposited on commercially pure Ti (CP Ti) by electron-beam evaporation at different oxygen flow rates to examine a possibility of their applications to endovascular stents. The surface morphology, chemical composition and crystal structure of the obtained titanium oxide films were analyzed by FE-SEM, XPS and XRD, respectively. As a function of the deposition parameters employed, the obtained titanium oxide films demonstrated different mixtures of anatase phase, Ti2O3 and TiO. By the formation of titanium oxide film on the CP Ti plate, the contact angle was decreased and the cellular activity of porcine aortic smooth muscle cells was increased. Post-deposition annealing was also found to be an important factor to achieve advantageous biocompatibility. When haemocompatibility was investigated by observing adhesion of blood platelets from platelet-rich plasma, less platelet adhesion was observed on titanium oxide films. These results indicated that titanium oxide film synthesized by e-beam evaporation could be applicable to coronary stents.