Plasma polymerized C:H:N:O thin films for controlled release of antibiotic substances.

Thin films, which are able to deliver antibiotics in a controlled way, are considered as a promising approach to combat bacterial infections. A novel drug delivery method based on reservoir/diffusion barrier is introduced in this paper. As reservoir serves a film of sputtered nylon 6,6 impregnated with ampicillin, which is then covered by a diffusion barrier from the same material. It is demonstrated that the impregnation process does not affect either the morphology or the surface chemical structure. The amount of immobilized antibiotics can be tailored by changing the reservoir film thickness, while the release kinetics can be controlled by the thickness of the diffusion barrier. Finally, it is shown that the ampicillin impregnated films have an antibacterial effect against <italic>Staphylococcus epidermidis</italic>. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]