Abstract

Patients with artificial bone prostheses present a higher risk to develop severe infections with resistant pathogens, which easily adhere to the inserted device, colonize the surface and form biofilms. The aim of this project is to bring a novel and sustainable solution for the patients affected by bone cancer, by optimizing the surface of the selected endoprosthesis so as to prevent infections and bone cancer relapse. The general scope is to obtain and characterize bioactive nanostructures to be used in the endoprosthesis surface optimization, by using a laser processing method, namely MAPLE (Matrix Assisted Pulsed Laser Evaporation). The main outcome of this project will be the development of new multifunctional surfaces encapsulating chemotherapeutic nanostructures and antimicrobial therapeutic agents, able to prevent bone cancer relapse and to prevent microbial contamination, colonization and biofilm development at the bone-implant interface.