Antibacterial Surface for Medical Device Applications.

"The prevention of bacterial adherence to surfaces is of the utmost importance in many industries, and especially in health-care and medical devices. Medical biopolymers such as silicone, polyurethane, PP, polystyrene, and various biodegradable polymers are often used in medical devices (heart valves, suture materials, syringes or dialysis systems, etc.). With regard to this recent social issue, there has been great progress in the development of new strategies to reduce the bacterial contamination of these polymeric surfaces. Recent developments in the area of surface-acquired infection prevention include surfaces with antimicrobial compositions and surfaces that facilitate the irradiative killing of bacteria. These surfaces are aimed to kill any bacteria on the surface; this could, however, leave a film of dead bacteria on the surface, which would inhibit further killing while providing a favorable platform for subsequent bacterial attachment. Superhydrophobic synthetic surfaces were first demonstrated in the mid-1990s, which have still not been explored in detail in the field of antibacterial surfaces. Several studies have shown the positive effects of these new surfaces on pathogenic bacterial adsorption, cell-and-protein interaction and adhesion, and bacterial adhesion on elastomeric superhydrophobic surfaces."

- 임진익 외., " 연잎 모사 구조로의 초소수성 표면 처리와 의료분야의 적용에 관한 연구",   

  (Polymer(Korea), Vol. 37, No. 4) 로 부터 발췌