Diamond-like carbon coated medical guidewires

Abstract

An investigation has been carried out on the possibility of replacing currently employed polymer based coatings on medical guide wires with DLC coatings. The DLC coatings were applied onto the stainless steel guide wires using a radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (RF-PECVD) chamber. Optical and SEM observations, contact angle measurements, adhesion strength measurement, lubricity test and Raman microscopy, all show that with proper selection of the process parameters of RF-PECVD chamber, a suitable DLC coating can be produced on guide wires.