AVS 59th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition
    Applied Surface Science Tuesday Sessions
       Session AS+BI-TuM

Paper AS+BI-TuM4
Characterization of Real-World Surfaces and Interfaces of Devices in the Biomedical Industry

Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 9:00 am, Room 20

Session: Practical Surface Analysis
Presenter: W. Theilacker, Corporate Technology and Innovation, Medtronic, Inc.
Authors: W. Theilacker, Corporate Technology and Innovation, Medtronic, Inc.
A. Belu, Corporate Technology and Innovation, Medtronic, Inc.
L. Lohstreter, Corporate Technology and Innovation, Medtronic, Inc.
L. LaGoo, Corporate Technology and Innovation, Medtronic, Inc.
Correspondent: Click to Email
This presentation will highlight the use of surface analysis methods for the characterization of medical devices. Examples will be presented to demonstrate a range of practical applications in solving industrial problems. A multi-technique approach is used to better understand issues of cleanliness, adhesion, and intentional surface modification with regards to pacemakers, leads, and other cardiovascular devices. Oftentimes the samples provided are non-ideal for surface sensitive techniques, e.g. they are large, non-flat, and have been handled, or have been in contact with other materials. This presentation will also address approaches for characterization of real-world, non-ideal samples. The surface is an important zone as it is the interface between a material of interest and its environment. Knowledge of interface chemistry is critical for understanding how a biomaterial or drug delivery system will interact with the biological environment of the body. For other materials, particularly those that are employed in the manufacture of medical devices, evaluation of the surface is important to further understand issues with welding, adhesion, contamination, discoloration, etc. Many techniques may be utilized in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of surface morphology and chemistry, including traditional techniques such as SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectroscopy), IR (infrared) spectroscopy, along with other techniques such as confocal Raman microscopy, interferometry, ellipsometry, XPS (x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy), and TOF-SIMS (time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry). A comparison of the techniques will be made to help elucidate which method or methods are best for specific problems. Further, the power of and the problems with data acquisition and interpretation will be highlighted with regards to each technique.