Controlled drug delivery from chitosan-coated heparin-loaded nanopores anodically grown on nitinol shape-memory alloy

TL;DR

This study develops a chitosan-coated, nanoporous nitinol device for controlled heparin delivery, demonstrating effective drug release regulation, biocompatibility, and potential for cardiovascular stent applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel two-stage anodizing and chitosan coating process on nitinol for controlled drug delivery in cardiovascular devices.

Findings

Nanoporous Ni-Ti-O layer was successfully formed on nitinol.

Chitosan coating effectively controlled heparin release.

Samples showed high cell viability and biocompatibility.

Abstract

Nitinol (NiTi shape-memory alloy) is an interesting candidate in various medical applications like dental, orthopedic, and cardiovascular devices, owing to its unique mechanical behaviors and proper biocompatibility. The aim of this work is the local controlled delivery of a cardiovascular drug, heparin, loaded onto nitinol treated by electrochemical anodizing and chitosan coating. In this regard, the structure, wettability, drug release kinetics, and cell cytocompatibility of the specimens were analyzed in vitro. The two-stage anodizing process successfully developed a regular nanoporous layer of Ni-Ti-O on nitinol, which considerably decreased the sessile water contact angle and induced hydrophilicity. The application of the chitosan coatings controlled the release of heparin mainly by a diffusional mechanism, where the drug release mechanisms were evaluated by the Higuchi, first-order, zero-order, and Korsmeyer-Pepass models. Human umbilical cord endothelial cells (HUVECs) viability assay also showed the non-cytotoxicity of the samples, so that the best performance was found for the chitosan-coated samples. It is concluded that the designed drug delivery systems are promising for cardiovascular, particularly stent applications.