title: Superhydrophobic materials for biomedical applications.
abstract: Superhydrophobic surfaces are actively studied across a wide range of applications and industries, and are now finding increased use in the biomedical arena as substrates to control protein adsorption, cellular interaction, and bacterial growth, as well as platforms for drug delivery devices and for diagnostic tools. The commonality in the design of these materials is to create a stable or metastable air layer at the material surface, which lends itself to a number of unique properties. These activities are catalyzing the development of new materials, applications, and fabrication techniques, as well as collaborations across material science, chemistry, engineering, and medicine given the interdisciplinary nature of this work. The review begins with a discussion of superhydrophobicity, and then explores biomedical applications that are utilizing superhydrophobicity in depth including material selection characteristics, in vitro performance, and in vivo performance. General trends are offered for each application in addition to discussion of conflicting data in the literature, and the review concludes with the authors' future perspectives on the utility of superhydrophobic biomaterials for medical applications.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry and Medicine, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Eric J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Falde
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry and Medicine, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, USA.
authors.forename: Stefan T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Yohe
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Yolonda L
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Colson
authors.affiliation: Departments of Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry and Medicine, Boston University, 590 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215, USA. Electronic address: mgrin@bu.edu.
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Grinstaff
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D053769:Nanocapsules / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013499:Surface Properties; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D053769:Nanocapsules; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; D014867:Water
keywords: Biomaterials; Diagnostics; Drug delivery; High throughput assays; Polymers; Superhydrophobic; Tissue engineering