Functional coatings are applied to improve resistance of implants like artificial heart valves or coronary stents against various impacts in the human body. One problem is the formation of biofilms on the implant surface, which limits communication of the implant with the surrounding area and might induce inflammatory reactions. In addition, nature of the implant material can promote the formation of blood clots, which leads to blocked arteries.

Today´s topic is chitosan for drug delivery systems. In July and August 2016, 33 articles about chitosan combined with drug delivery systems were published. As might be expected, top publisher are China (13 articles), United States (5) and India (4). The articles investigated drug release by chitosan-based micro- or nanoparticles, hydrogels and nanocomposites. Thereby controlled release of cytostatics, proteins or peptides was mainly studied. (Source: www.gopubmed.org)