Plasma-driven nanotechnology for biomedical materials
Pietro FAVIA
(Università degli Studi di Bari)
After the explosive start in Microelectronics and Semiconductor industries in the 70’s, surface modification cold plasma processes are largely employed today in materials research and industry, resulting constantly in newer surfaces and applications. The field of biomedical materials, in particular, uses cold plasmas at low and atmospheric pressure to tailor the surface of materials and micro/nanoparticles to the best predetermined interactions with cells, bacteria, biological fluids and tissues in so many experiments and devices. Plasma Sterilization, Plasma Medicine (i.e., the therapeutic use of plasmas in wound healing, cancer treatments and dentistry) and Plasma Treatments of Liquids are newer exciting developments of the discipline.
This short talk will describe the evolution, the maturity and the recent advances of Plasma Science and Technology in Life Sciences, with emphasis on surface modification processes for improving the biocompatibility of materials of interest in Biomaterials, Biosensors, Membranes, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine. Several surfaces will be described, including: cell-adhesive biomolecule-functionalized surfaces, non fouling cell-repulsive coatings; bacterial-resistant films; 3D plasma-functionalized biodegradable scaffolds; nano/bio composite coatings and drug-release systems.
Acknowledgements
The projects RIGENERA (Regione Puglia, Partenariati Regionali per l’Innovazione); LIPP (Regione Puglia, Laboratorio di ricerca Industriale Pugliese dei Plasmi); RINOVATIS (PON MIUR, Ditech); SISTEMA (PON MIUR, Univ. Bari); EC COST action MP1101 (Biomedical Applications of Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Technology) are gratefully acknowledged.