Prof.  Miran  Mozetič
Jozef Stefan Institute,  Slovenia

Title: Haemo-compatibility of heart valves coated with carbon nanowalls

Abstract:

A method for depositing carbon nanowalls upon non-equilibrium gaseous plasma conditions will be presented. The deposition was performed in a low-pressure plasma reactor which allows for a high quality of vertically oriented carbon nanowalls by taking advantage of the PECVD method. The samples were then incubated with human blood in order to monitor hemostatic response. Blood platelets soon activated on the surface of untreated substrates whereas the activation was negligible on the surface of artificial heart valves coated with carbon nanowalls. The concentration of activated blood platelets on the surface of samples coated with nanowalls was almost three orders of magnitude lower than on uncoated substrates, what was explained by a minimal contact area between platelets and the surface of the coated heart valve. The technique represents an interesting alternative to classical technologies for suppressing haemostatic response of cardiovascular implants.

Biography:

Prof. Dr. Miran Mozetič received his B. Sc. Degree of Physics from the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia in 1988. In 1992 he received the M. Sc. Degree from the Technical Faculty, University of Maribor, Slovenia, and in 1997 the Ph. D. Degree of Electronic Vacuum Technology from the Faculty of Electro-technique, Computer Sciences and Informatics, University of Maribor. In 1993 he attended courses on Application of synchrotron radiation techniques at International centre for theoretical physics in Trieste, Italy. He joined Jožef Stefan Institute in 2003 and since 2009 he is the Head of Department F4 (Department of Surface Engineering). He is the leader of a research group (currently 30 members) working on generation and characterization of highly reactive gaseous plasma, interdisciplinary research on interaction of non-equilibrium plasma with organic and composite materials, plasma nanoscience, plasma techniques for biomedical applications as well as development of different technologies for industrial partners. He has been a partner in over 10 EU projects. His bibliography includes 300 scientific papers and 20 patents.