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Digital light processing (DLP) is a vat photopolymerization 3D printing technique with increasingly broad application prospects, particularly in personalized medicine, such as the creation of medical devices. Different resins and printing parameters affect the functionality of these devices. One of the many problems that biomedical implants encounter is inflammation and bacteria growth. For this reason, many studies turn to the addition of antibacterial agents to either the bulk material or as a coating. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have shown desirable properties, including antibacterial activity with negligible toxicity to the human body, allowing their use in a wide range of applications. In this project, we developed a resin of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), a cross-linker known for its excellent mechanical properties and high biocompatibility in a 4:1 weight ratio of monomers to water. The material's mechanical properties (Young's modulus, maximum elongation, and ultimate tensile strength) were found similar to those of human cartilage. Furthermore, the ZnO NPs embedding matrix showed strong antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S.A.). As the ZnO NPs ratio was changed, only a minor effect on the mechanical properties of the material was observed, whereas strong antibacterial properties against both bacteria were achieved in the case of 1.5 wt.% NPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for medical implants has rapidly increased over the last decades. These artificial devices should possess various properties such as biointegration and mechanical characteristics comparable to that of the replaced body parts. Nowadays, orthopedic, dental, and cardiovascular implants consist mainly of metal-based materials. However, metals suffer from poor osseointegration, some are not biocompatible, and some are not corrosion-resistant. Therefore, surface modification is necessary to enhance and improve the overall compatibility. Electrodeposition methods such as electrophoretic and electrochemical deposition are facile approaches for forming homogeneous and multifunctional coatings on conductive and complex geometries. Moreover, electrochemistry enables driving the deposition of nanomaterials and introduce biomolecules and polymers, by which various properties such as antibacterial activity, cell proliferation, and biointegration can be added to the implant surface. This review aims at describing the recent studies involving electrodeposition methods for coatings of medical implants by nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]