Lubrication performance of diamond-like carbon and fluorinated diamond-like carbon coatings for intravascular guidewires

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) and fluorinated DLC (F-DLC) films were deposited on SUS316L guidewires using radio frequency (RF) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and the lubrication performance of DLC- or F-DLC-coated guidewires was then evaluated under in vitro conditions using a novel friction simulator developed for this study. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) demonstrated that DLC or F-DLC film completely coated the specimens (SUS316L guidewires) and that polishing scars were substantially reduced. In the torturous vessel model, DLC- or F-DLC-coated guidewires exhibited significantly improved lubrication performance (by approximately 30% over that of uncoated wires). DLC and F-DLC films are thus promising candidates for lubricious coating of intravascular guidewires.