Bioactive film helps medical implants bond with bone /pellicola Bioactive aiuta gli impianti medici a legarsi con l'osso. Segnalato dal Dott. Giuseppe Cotellessa / Reported by Dr. Joseph Cotellessa Histological evaluation of bone growth against non-coated PEEK implants (Credit: Afsaneh Rabiei) Researchers at North Carolina State University have devised a technique for coating medical implants that helps them bond with surrounding bone. The process, developed in partnership with Cambridge University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, involves coating polymer implants with a bioactive film. Testing was carried out on a polymer called polyether ether ketone, or PEEK, which is used in implants due to its similar mechanical properties to bone. PEEK itself doesn’t bond well with bone however, and this is what drove the study, published this week in Materials Science and Engineering Previously, PEEK had been coated with hydroxyapatite (HA), a calc