Toward Antibacterial Coatings for Personalized Implants

The complex reconstructive surgeries for which patient-specific orthopedic, maxillofacial, or dental implants are used often necessitate wounds that are open for a considerable amount of time. Unsurprisingly, this allows bacteria to establish implant-associated infection, despite the scrupulous sterilization efforts made during surgery. Here, we developed a prophylactic bactericidal coating via electrophoretic deposition technology for two 3D-printed porous titanium implant designs. The surface characteristics, antibiotic release behavior, antibacterial properties, and impact on osteoblast cell proliferation of the optimized coatings were investigated. The results unequivocally confirmed the biofunctionality of the implants in vitro. This study reveals a new avenue for future antibacterial patient-specific implants.