Background and purpose: Stronger cellular adhesion on the surface of endovascular devices promotes accelerated healing of aneurysms. The purpose of this in vitro study was to study the cellular interaction on the surface of bioactive Guglielmi detachable coils (GDCs) after using the surface-modification technology, ion implantation.
Methods: Polystyrene (PS) dishes and platinum plates were used to simulate a GDC surface. They were treated with either simple collagen coating or collagen coating followed with ion implantation. Bovine endothelial cells (2-2.5 x 10(4) cells in 1 mL) were suspended in medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum on the PS dishes or platinum plates. Five days after cell seeding, the strength of cell adhesion was evaluated by trypsin treatment and flow shear stress. The cell detachment from the PS and platinum surfaces was observed microscopically.
Results: Five days after cell seeding, both simple collagen-coated surfaces and collagen-coated ion-implanted surfaces showed uniform endothelial proliferation. After trypsin treatment, or under flow shear stress, stronger cell adhesion against chemical and flow shear stress was observed on the ion-implanted collagen-coated surface. In contrast, the endothelial cells were detached easily from the non-ion-implanted collagen-coated surface.
Conclusion: Ion implantation in combination with protein coating improves the strength of surface cell adhesion when exposed to flow shear stress and proteolytic enzymes. Strong endothelial cell adhesion is reported to be important to achieve earlier endothelialization across the neck of an embolized aneurysm with bioactive GDCs. This new technology may improve long-term anatomic outcome in cerebral aneurysms treated with GDCs.