About
This general session will focus on the recent advances in locally delivering drugs, proteins, peptides, growth factors, enzymes, and genes from implant surfaces and coatings. Such drug and biomolecule releasing coatings have tremendous applications in cardiovascular devices, orthopedic and fracture fixation devices, craniofacial and dental implants, ophthalmic implants, cochlear implants, and neural devices. This session will cover a wide range of drug and biomolecule eluting implant coatings that include but not limited to novel biodegradable, biostable, and biological polymer coatings, ceramic coatings, porous, textured, microrough, and reservoir surfaces, organic and molecular coatings, selfassembly coatings, solgel coatings, biodegradable metal coatings, thin films, biological and biomimetic coatings. This session will also highlight the importance of different surface characterization techniques to analyze the drug delivery coatings. A special emphasis will be provided to the implant coating technologies that have been translated into clinical and preclinical products.