Catheter inner surface metal coating by sputteringwith microplasma

This paper conducts an experiment by introducing microplasma inside the tube via external electrodes placed at the outside of the tube, and applied a RF voltage between the electrodes to generate the microplasma. The collision of the ions and the wall will changes the microscopic surface morphology and thus its hydrophilic property. Further metal coating of the inner surface can be achieved by placing a metal wire at the center of the tube, and apply microplasma externally. The metal wire is biased negatively. Due to the bombardment of the positive ions, some of the metal atoms are sputtered onto the inner surface of the catheter. A catheter coated with Au is expected to show higher resistance to micro-organism attachment and a longer lifetime.