Plasma assisted surface modification processes for biomedical materials and devices

This contribution reviews cold plasma processes that are investigated and utilized in academic and technological fields related to Life Sciences, in particular for tailoring surface composition and morphology of materials of different utilization in Medicine and Biology for implants, prostheses, biosensors, devices and scaffolds for tissue engineering. The final goal of the research in this field is, in general, to achieve the capability of driving at will the behaviour (adhesion, growth, morphology, physiology, etc.) of cells and biological tissues in vitro and in vivo at the surface of modified materials. Recent advances on different plasma-processes for biomedical applications, developed in radiofrequency (RF, 13.56 MHz) Glow Discharges at the group of the authors are reported in this review, including: the synthesis of functional surfaces for direct cell growth and biomolecule immobilization; the deposition of non-fouling coatings; the deposition of nano-composite bacterial resistant coatings; the synthesis of nano-structured surfaces. In vitro biological tests for plasma-processed surfaces are also described.