Dear Colleagues,

The development of biomedical devices for the functional replacement or restoration of damaged tissues and organs strongly relies on the use of materials capable of interacting with the human body without eliciting adverse responses. In recent decades, changes in population habits and a longer life expectancy have led to an exponential increase in the number of repair procedures with surgical implants. Although joint replacement surgery has become common practice, the implanted biomaterial’s long-term durability is not ensured. Despite the significant advances verified over the last few decades, indeed, the range of processable biomaterials displaying an optimal balance between mechanical, chemical, biological, and tribological properties remains very limited.

Failure of the implants can be caused by several reasons, such as adverse immune system reactions, biofilm formation, or mechanical, chemical, tribological, surgical, manufacturing, and biocompatibility problems. Since most such causes of failure are related to the surface features of the implanted biomaterials, many research groups have turned their interest to the techniques which are able to modify the materials’ surface. This one has an essential role in defining biomaterial performance, since the response of the human body to the material implantation is a function of the reactions that take place at the tissue–implant interface. Therefore, materials’ surface modification allows retaining the favorable bulk properties of the modified material, giving it, at the same time, new properties or enhancing some already existent ones, avoiding, thus, the expensive and long process of development of new materials.

Therefore, this Special Issue welcomes innovative works on surface modification of biomaterials and medical devices which are able to extend their lifetime, focusing particular attention on the technologies for their surface modification, and aims to highlight new approaches, their advantages, and their applications in the biomedical field.

Dr. Elisabetta Tranquillo
Dr. Flavia Bollino
Guest Editors

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• Biomaterials
• Surface modification
• Surface characterization
• Functional coating
• Drug delivery