Surface coatings for biological activation and functionalization of medical devices

in order to improve the tissue integration and subsequently the long-term maintenance of implants and biomaterials, the material surface can be modified by mechanical, physical, chemical or biological functionalization. In this way, the surface may become biologically active by further grafting of biomolecules. Two principal concepts are considered for materials functionalization. (i) The Drug Delivery Systems (DDS) where the bioactive molecules goes to the target mostly ensured by their release from biodegradable, biomimetic and adsorbing surface coatings. In this system, the bioactive molecules go to the target. (ii) The grafting of the bioactive compounds on small strongly bound spacer molecules, i.e. acrylic acids, polyethylene glycol, polylactic acids, etc. In this system, the target goes to the bioactive molecules, which is immobilized on the material surface. These techniques provide promising outlooks for any metallic, polymeric or ceramic scaffold used in tissue engineering for the construction of whole artificial and functional organs. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.