4. Surface treatments for improved biocompatibility

The surface composition and condition of a biomaterial are crucial to its biocompatibility, since the interface between a biomaterial and its working environment is where the material/tissue interaction takes place. The aim is to minimize these interactions as much as possible. Several strategies can be implemented, such as :

• surface modifications ;

• surface treatments using coatings.

In order to demonstrate the influence of a surface treatment on the biocompatibility of a material, numerous tests of the treated material in a variety of biological environments (cell cultures, animal experiments, human clinical experiments) are necessary. In the initial stages, a variety of easy-to-use surface characterization techniques are used. These include surface chemical analysis (XPS),...