Poly(L-lactic acid) scaffold with oriented micro-valley surface and superior properties fabricated by solid-state drawing for blood-contact biomaterials.

Most biomaterials composed of biodegradable polymers will contact either accidentally or consistently with blood and this commonly requires both good  mechanical strength and blood compatibility. Despite this demand, current processing methods still make it difficult and complex to simultaneously improve the two properties. To overcome present limitations, the aim of this work is to develop a solid-state drawing which is a novel method for blood-contact biomaterials that can simultaneously improve the two essential factors of mechanical strength and blood compatibility, as well as induce a micro-patterned surface. Solid-state drawn (SSD) poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) film significantly maximally increased tensile strength and elastic modulus about ninefold and sixfold, respectively, compared to undrawn film. Furthermore, it was determined that SSD-PLLA film had highly developed molecular orientation, higher crystallinity and surface hydrophobicity. Additionally, the SSD method could greatly reduce roughness of the surface and induce the formation of aligned valleys, forming microstructures on the film surface. The topographical cue delayed hydrolytic degradation and prevented damage on the surface by NaOH of alkali compounds are compared with undrawn film. In energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy analysis, the surface of SSD film treated by NaOH was not detected on any ions whereas undrawn film held foreign ions on surface defects. The hemolysis rate of SSD film was considerably decreased with an increase of draw ratio up to 0.2% maximally and SSD film has shown greatly lower platelet adhesion compared to undrawn film in blood-compatibility analysis. Interestingly, one-directional alignment of micro-valley structure on SSD film could promote initial adhesion of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) compared with undrawn film and guide the direction of HUVEC. In conclusion, the newly designed SSD method has shown potential for developing blood-contact biomaterials simply due to great mechanical properties, blood compatibility and an aligned micro-patterned surface.