Resonance enhanced AFM-IR: a new powerful way to characterize blooming on polymers used in medical devices.

In this paper we demonstrated the application of resonance enhanced AFM-IR to the study of the medical device surfaces. Surface state is one of the most important parameter on the biocompatibility of an implantable medical device. By using this new technique, it was possible to obtain with high resolution topographic and chemical maps and to identify the chemical nature of very thin deposit observed on the surface. This was illustrated with the case of lubricant exudation on polyurethane used in the making of implantable catheters.