There are disclosed implantable medical devices and apparatus for treating implantable medical devices during production, so as to cause the implantable medical devices to have abluminal surfaces and luminal surfaces with different functional characteristics and in particular surface energies. The luminal surfaces of the medical device are preferably coated with carbon, so as to have a low surface energy, which reduces the risk of thrombi forming when implanted into a patient's vessels. The abluminal surfaces are treated so as to have a high surface energy, such that a therapeutic, preferably bioactive, material, such as a drug, can adhere to the abluminal surfaces and preferably without any need for a containment layer such as polymer or other matrix material. Once the therapeutic material has been delivered into the tissue wall, the stent can remain within the patient's vessel without leaving any delivery artefacts, as occurs with some prior art drug eluting medical devices.

Disclosed are an implantable medical device, a preparation method thereof and an implantable medical device preform for the preparation of the implantable medical device. The implantable medical device comprises a metal basal body (21) and a polymer film layer (22) covering the surface of the metal basal body (21) and preventing endothelium growth and covering, and also comprises a transitional body (23), which is located between the metal basal body (21) and the polymer film layer (22) and covers at least part of the surface of the metal basal body (21), wherein the transitional body (23) is connected to the polymer film layer (22) and the metal basal body (21). By arranging the transitional body (23) to be connected to the polymer film layer (22) and the metal basal body (21), the polymer film layer (22) will not easily fall off when being implanted into a human body.

An antibacterial device is disclosed that includes a substrate and an antibacterial coating or antibacterial surface being provided on at least a part of the substrate's surface. The antibacterial coating or surface includes Angstrom scale flakes, where the Angstrom scale flakes are arranged in a standing position on the substrate surface and are attached to the substrate surface via edge sides thereof. The Angstrom scale flakes can, for example, be graphene flakes, or graphite flakes having a thickness of a few atom layers. It has been found that such standing flakes are efficient in killing prokaryotic cells but do not harm eukaryotic cells.

The invention relates to an implant or medical tool made of a metal or having a surface made of a metal for use in a therapeutic treatment, wherein the implant or the tool has, on its/the surface, a coating with polycrystalline doped electrically conductive diamond, wherein the therapeutic therapy is a treatment of a microbial infection of a human or animal body, wherein the implant or the tool is connected as anode (12) in an electrochemical system in the body, wherein the electrochemical system comprises, in addition to the anode (12), a cathode (16), a power source connected in an electrically conductive manner to the anode and to the cathode, and an electrolyte comprising or consisting of a body fluid, or consists of the anode (12), a cathode (16), a power source connected in an electrically conductive manner to the anode and to the cathode, and an electrolyte comprising or consisting of a body fluid, or wherein the implant or the tool is disposed within an electrical field, by means of which a negative charge is induced at a first site and a positive charge at a second site by induction on the implant or tool, by means of which the first site becomes the anode (12) in an electrochemical system and the second site becomes the cathode (16) in the electrochemical system, wherein the electrochemical system comprises, in addition to the implant or the tool, an electrolyte comprising or consisting of a body fluid or consists of the implant or the tool and an electrolyte comprising or consisting of a body fluid.

An intracardiac pacing system comprising a fixation element for fixing the intracardiac pacing system to body tissue is disclosed. The fixation element comprises a metallic material, and is at least partially coated with a metal-ion release inhibiting material. Also, a method for coating at least part of an intracardiac pacing system is disclosed.

The present disclosure provides a metal material for a medical device, the metal material including a metal layer, and a diamond-like carbon layer provided on the metal layer and containing fluorine and silicon.

An antibacterial member that maintains a high antibacterial property and a high osteoconductive property for a long duration is provided. The antibacterial member includes a DLC film (F-DLC film) 40 containing fluorine at least partially or entirely on an outermost surface of a base material 10. The F-DLC film has an element ratio (F/(F+C)) of 17% to 72% and a nanoindentation hardness of 2,000 MPa to 16,000 MPa. This maintains wear resistance and close contact, and obtains an antibacterial member that maintains a high antibacterial property and a high osteoconductive property for a long duration. The F-DLC film does not necessarily need to cover the entire outermost surface of the base material but may be disposed in a mottled pattern.

An article for a living body or a biological sample is provided, the article including a first film and a second film, in which the first film includes an amorphous carbon film in which a proportion of the number of carbon atoms having an sp.sup.2-hybrid orbital to a total number of carbon atoms having an sp.sup.2-hybrid orbital and carbon atoms having an sp.sup.3-hybrid orbital is in a range of 23 to 43 atom % or a titanium-doped amorphous carbon film in which a proportion of the number of titanium atoms to the number of carbon atoms is in a range of 3 to 12 atom %, and the second film includes any one film selected from an amorphous carbon film in which a static contact angle with pure water is 10 or less, a titanium-doped amorphous carbon film in which a proportion of the number of titanium atoms to the number of carbon atoms is less than 3 atom % or greater than 12 atom %, or a titanium-doped amorphous carbon film in which a static contact angle with pure water is 10 or less.

There is disclosed a method of improving the reliability of coating an implantable medical device, such as a stent, with bioactive material in the absence of a carrier material such as a matrix or polymer layer. The method involves cleaning volatile components from the exposed surfaces of the medical device, removing carbon deposits and then applying a uniform carbon layer in a controlled environment. The deliberately applied carbon layer masks impurities of the underlying native oxide layer and leads to more uniform bioactive material coating not only a over the surfaces of a single medical device but also from device to device within a batch and between batches of devices. This improves production as well as optimising the amount and release of drug on the medical device without the need for a carrier material.

An antibacterial member that maintains a high antibacterial property and a high osteoconductive property for a long duration is provided. The antibacterial member includes a DLC film (F-DLC film) 40 containing fluorine at least partially or entirely on an outermost surface of a base material 10. The F-DLC film has an element ratio (F/(F+C)) of 17% to 72% and a nanoindentation hardness of 2,000 MPa to 16,000 MPa. This maintains wear resistance and close contact, and obtains an antibacterial member that maintains a high antibacterial property and a high osteoconductive property for a long duration. The F-DLC film does not necessarily need to cover the entire outermost surface of the base material but may be disposed in a mottled pattern.