Nanostructured coatings with bacteria-triggered antimicrobial response for medical devices

Bacterial colonization and biofilm formation on medical devices is one of the most pressing current healthcare issues, posing serious threats to patients health other than having a great economic impact on national healthcare systems. Smart and tailored biomaterials for the fabrication of medical devices are needed to contrast this problem, in particular the development of surface modification strategies, preventing bacteria adhesion and proliferation into mature biofilm. Layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly technique allows for easy, reproducible and specially designed surface modifications, providing the material with the desired antibiofilm activity. More interestingly, LbL coatings can also display smart, stimuli-responsive features to favour a controlled, on-demand antibacterial response which is triggered only when bacteria are present (self-defensive coatings).