Application of hydrophobic coatings in biodegradable devices.

BACKGROUND Degradation periods of biodegradable medical devices strongly affect their clinical performance and therefore special attention has been drawn to modulate their degradation rate. OBJECTIVE This paper presents an experimental study on the effect of hydrophobic coating on the degradation behavior of PLLA samples. METHODS PLLA films were coated with a thin layer of PCL, and a combination of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Ubbelohde Viscometer Capillary, and chromatograph of gel permeation (GPC) was used to evaluate the morphology and molecular weight changes of samples during degradation. In addition, the mass loss of samples was also measured during the experiment. RESULTS PLLA samples with PCL coatings showed a slower degradation rate than those without PCL coatings, which indicated that PCL coatings could protect inside PLLA samples and slow down the degradation rate of PLLA samples. CONCLUSIONS The results of the study suggest that hydrophobic coating on polymer materials is a useful approach to control the degradation of polymer medical device.