Russian scientists proposed to protect implants from destruction by nanoneedles

As you know, implants are being used more and more in medicine today – in the form of prostheses for internal organs and joints, cardiac stimulators, substitutes for vessel walls. I don’t observe any dentistry and cosmetology, not before surgery in the organ system, which is very painful and pathological. There are no microorganisms – according to statistics, 5% of implants contain what is called microbial biofilms.

Scientists have been working on these problems for quite a long time, developing new surfaces with antibacterial effects. In this case, Russian specialists proved the analysis of nanostructural parameters of the antimicrobial activity of silicone implants.

To do this, nanoneedle-style silicone substrates, also called nanopillars, of various sizes were used on the surface. In this, scientists were helped by soft lithography, where special elastic stamps were used. As a result, these needles act as barriers preventing implant settling even in the event of biofilm formation.

The column needles are 500 or 700 nm in diameter, and in the UK they are twice as far apart, so it is simply “uncomfortable” for bacteria to be placed on such a surface, and when the microbe tries to settle on the needles, its shell is stretched and at 15 percent size. bursts, causing the bacterium to die.

Now the scientists of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Ural Federal Research Center and the Tambov State Technical University continue to work in this direction, conducting experiments with the patterns of nanoneedle-pillars and their mutual arrangement, achieving the most pronounced antibacterial effect. Effect.