Surface nanoengineering of metallic surfaces for biomedical applications

我研究项目的直接目标是将材料科学和纳米技术结合起来，以推进当前的可植入金属，特别是钛（医学的黄金标准）。我建议首先应用一种简单而强大的电化学技术（即阳极氧化）来产生三维纳米管表面，能够像原位药物输送平台。随后，为了增加另一水平的协同控制，表面将涂覆有生物相容性水凝胶，如果局部pH从生理值（7）降低到更酸性的值（4-6），则该水凝胶能够溶解。pH值的降低可能与细菌感染、炎症和骨重塑有关。这种方法旨在创造新一代的可植入金属，其“智能”表面能够感知周围生物环境的生理变化，并通过释放生物活性剂（如抗生素）做出相应反应。最终，拟议的研究计划预计将产生材料和表面科学以及表征技术的新知识，最终允许培养结合各种学科的研究生。这些学员将非常有资格在加拿大具有战略重要性的领域进行跨学科研究，如生物医学工程。

The immediate objective of my research program is conjugating materials science and nanotechnology to advance current implantable metals, in particular titanium, the gold standard in medicine. I propose to first apply a simple yet powerful electrochemical technique (i.e. anodization) to generate 3-dimensional nanotubular surfaces capable to act like in-situ drug-delivery platforms. Successively, in order to add another level of synergistic control, surfaces will be coated with a biocompatible hydrogel capable of dissolving if the local pH decreases from physiological values (7) to more acid ones (4-6). A decrease in the pH can be related to bacterial infection, inflammation and bone remodelling. This approach aims at creating a new generation of implantable metals with 'smart' surfaces capable of sensing physiological changes in the surrounding biological environment and responding accordingly by releasing bioactive agents, such as antibiotics. Ultimately, the proposed research program is expected to generate new knowledge in materials and surface science, as well as in characterization techniques, ultimately permitting to train graduate students who conjugate various disciplines. These trainees will be extremely well-qualified for interdisciplinary research in areas of strategic importance to Canada, such as biomedical engineering.