Based on novel nanotechnology developments, the Debiotech Nanocoating is used in the fields of drug eluting stents (DES) and orthopaedic Implants. This coating technology can produce ceramic coatings with variable chemistries, controlled porosities, large specific surface areas and high drug loading capacity.

Ceramics are commonly used in the medical industry and are appreciated for their long term inertness and their excellent biocompatibility. However, their use is currently limited to very specific applications due to their mechanical properties, in particular their brittleness. In order to overcome this limitation, new developments have been made in the field of thin and nanostructured ceramic coatings which have significantly improved the mechanical properties as well as the wear and corrosion resistance.

Debiotech’s Nanocoating technology is built upon a network of cavities, with sizes ranging from the nanometer to the micrometer scales, linked together by multiple channels with tightly controlled and reproducible sizing. These structures can be arranged in a predefined manner, allowing for example the loading of a drug into the coating and its release over a long period of time, or the mechanical fixation of the implant through ingrowth of the surrounding tissue after implantation.

Cross section of a reservoir for drug loading	Anchoring structure for tissue ingrowth

Debiotech’s Nanocoating technology is developed in collaboration with experts in Nanomaterials from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). It is covered today by five patent families. The intellectual property includes the structure of the coating, the fabrication process and its application to medical devices.

Key Features:

• Ceramic coating of variable chemical composition: TiO₂, ZrO₂, SiO₂, IrO₂, Al₂O₃, CaP
• Thin coating: 100nm – 10µm
• Combination of micro- and nano-porosity
• Controlled porosity in x, y and z directions
• Applicable on various metallic substrates: Stainless steel, titanium and titanium alloys, Co-Cr alloys
• Ability to obtain selective coating areas
• Tuneable roughness
• Controllable drug release profile