Despite significant advances in the development of artificial heart substitutes, anthrombogenic materials and surfaces remain to be the main challenge for implants, which can prevent thrombosis that leads to rejection. The goal of material engineering is essentially to design polymeric materials of high durability and optimal thrombogenicity in mechanical heart prosthesis, being developed recently in a frame of the polish artificial heart program. For these reasons, various surface modifications are being continuously developed for a 'gold standard' material, which is a polyurethane (PU) thermoplastic elastomer and they will be shortly reviewed. However, new polymeric materials can meet medical word's attention if they are able to provide similar or better characteristics in term of bulk and surface properties. Specifically, if they will show appropriate surface topography, which is the most influential in determining the response of live tissues toward biomaterials. Nanostructured polyester thermoplastic elastomers of high biodurability as an alternative to PU materials for artificial heart are challenging new materials, and they will be discussed briefly.
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