The Development of Bile Duct Stent Having Antifouling Properties by Using Atmosphere Pressure Cold Plasma (2)

Biomimetics (or biomimicry) is a field of technologies based on imitating the functions and properties found in living organisms. The application of the super-water-repellent fine structure of lotus leaves to create waterproof products is a well-known example of biomimetics. The present study examined the surface structure of snail shells, which exhibit oil repellency (oleophobic property). Snail shells have nanoporous structures with nanoholes on the scale of 200 nm–400 nm. When water enters these nanoholes, a thin film of water is formed on the surface, which repels oil. These structures are known as superhydrophilic nanostructures. An earlier report discussed the structures and effectiveness of antifouling properties of nanostructures formed on the inner walls of PE tubes of varying diameters under varying plasma conditions for the purpose of developing elemental technologies for imparting antifouling properties to the inner walls of PE biliary stents by forming nanostructures directly on the inner surface with atmospheric pressure cold plasma. In this study, we present the results of an animal experiment performed with a prototype stent prepared using this technology.