by Jamie Hartford on May 3, 2016
The best medical device designs can be stymied by the reaction of the human body. Implantable devices are greeted as foreign bodies, and they resist insertion, fail to remain in place, or trigger blood clots. Coatings on the surface of a device can help overcome these challenges. But instead of coatings that carry a single purpose, surface modification technology is moving toward products that bring multiple options to medical device companies. 
Some of the advances in coating technology are a response to changes in medical device materials, said Tony Crivella, senior manager of sales at Orchid Orthopedic Solutions. [See Orchid Orthopedic Solutions at MD&M East, Booth #1159]
The Holt, MI-based company supplies coatings that promote connection of the device to the bone, which makes an orthopedic implant more stable. As more implantable devices are made out of plastic rather than metal, coatings suppliers have had to adjust their offerings. For example, Crivella said many medical device makers now ask for coatings suitable for polyetheretherketone (PEEK) polymers, which present challenges for coating technology. Plastic melts at the high temperatures required to cure coatings. The only coating suitable for plastics is a plasma spray. Crivella said Orchid has developed a proprietary way to keep a plastic medical device part at the right temperature—cool enough so the plastic does not melt, but hot enough so the coating adheres.