Superhydrophobic materials are disclosed and described, along with devices, surfaces, and associated methods. Such materials can be coated onto device surfaces, system surfaces, structures, and the like.

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.

Ultrasound devices including wearable, patch-type ultrasound devices, which feature a porous graphene electrode prepared by graphitization of a polyimide precursor.

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.

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 end effector including an anvil and a staple cartridge assembly is disclosed. The staple cartridge assembly comprises a deck having steps defined thereon for compressing tissue positioned between the anvil and the staple cartridge assembly to different pressures. The staple cartridge assembly further comprises staples having different unformed heights removably stored therein. The staples are deformed against the anvil to different formed heights.

An implant comprises a substrate and a coating on a surface of the substrate, and the coating includes silicon nitride and has a thickness of from about 1 to about 15 micrometer wherein the silicon nitride coating has a composition defined by Si.sub.xN.sub.yW.sub.z, where W is C, H and/or O, 2<x<4, 3<y<5, and z is such that the coating contains less than 20 atomic percent of C, H and O.

The present invention provides an article, at least part of it being coated by inorganic fullerene-like (IF) nanoparticles or composite containing such nanoparticles. Preferably, the invention provides an article made of metal, for use in dentistry or medicine e.g. archwire, needle or catheter, having a friction-reducing film, and methods for coating such articles with a friction-reducing film.

The present invention aims to provide a pre-filled syringe coated with a resin film capable of reducing sliding resistance and preventing liquid leakage by a simple method. The present invention relates to a gasket for a pre-filled syringe, which has a sliding side surface that is coated with an inactive resin film and further cut to form a cut. The cut region is preferably between ring-shaped ribs on the sliding side surface, or in a ring-shaped rib on the sliding side surface.