Protective coatings for enhanced performance in biomedical applications

Abstract

Biomedical implants such as prosthetic hips and heart stents and instruments used in vivo all have negative performance issues. A common solution, which can also be appropriate for other devices, is to apply a diamond-like carbon thin film in order to enhance the performance of the devices. The films were produced by pulsed laser deposition and characterised by Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, ball on flat tribometry, contact angle measurements and spectrophotometry. The stability of the films was checked by soaking in simulated body fluid (SBF). The root mean square surface roughness was found to be <1 nm, and a coefficient of friction of 0·08 was produced in a lubricated environment. Contact angles ranged from 65 to 88°. The coatings produced on fused silica had high transparency and showed no delamination after 43 weeks of immersion in SBF. These films have potential to enhance the performance of biomedical implants and instruments.

Keywords:

• Coating
• Biomedical
• Carbon

The authors would like to acknowledge the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory for use of its Raman microscope. Use of the Center for Nanoscale Materials was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under contract no. DE-AC02-06CH11357. S. A. Hasan and J. H. Dickerson would like to acknowledge support from a Vanderbilt University Discovery Grant.