A new antithrombogenic heparinized polymer

A new antithrombogenic polymer was synthesized by photoinduced graft copolymerization of both a hydrophilic polymer and a cationic polymer to hydrophobic poly (vinyl chloride) copolymer, and by quarternizing and heparinizing the obtained graft copolymer. For polymers of various compositions obtained by the method described above, chemical composition, water absorption, membrane potential, and quantity of adsorbed heparin were determined and antithrombogenicity evaluated in vivo. Thus, it has been found that the polymer of excellent antithrombogenicity has a negative membrane potential, a moderate elution rate of heparin, adsorbs heparin in a quantity of approximately 15 wt-%, and has a degree of water adsorption of about 30 wt-%. Also, measurement of membrane potential was very useful for the estimation of the quantity of the adsorbed heparin and its change with time.