SYNTHESIS AND BLOOD COMPATIBILITY OF RUTILE-TYPE TITANIUM-OXIDE COATED LTI-CARBON

Titanium oxide films were synthesized by ion beam enhanced deposition, where the films were prepared by depositing titanium atoms and simult aneously bombarding with Xe+ ions at an energy of 40 keV in an O-2 env ironment. The titanium oxide films exhibit rutile-type structure with (100) orientation and the O/Ti ratio is about 2:1. Ti2+, Ti3+ and Ti4 coexist in the films. In vitro and in vivo investigations were used t o investigate the blood compatibility of titanium oxide films. The res ults show that the blood compatibility of rutile-type titanium oxide f ilms is better than that of low temperature isotropic pyrolytic carbon (LTI-carbon), which is widely used to fabricate artificial heart valv e. It is thought that rutile-type titanium oxide coated LTI-carbon mos t probably becomes new biomaterial to fabricate artificial heart valve s.