ABSTRACT
Bioactivity refers to the ability of a polymer to elicit a biological response from the host site that it is implanted in. Many factors are taken into account when trying to tune common polymers to be bioactive. A plasma surface treatment of polymers is a common technique used as it is simple to use and can be repeated quite easily, with the ability to tailor exposure times. Many different types of gases can be used to plasma treat the surface of polymers, but the most common are ammonia, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, or carbon monoxide. Protein adsorption has been shown to play a crucial role in cellular adhesion to polymers. Polymers used as scaffolds for tissue growth, repair, and replacement require cellular growth and proliferation to occur in order to repair the damaged tissue. Ozone treatment plays a similar role in that it oxidizes the surface of the polymer in order to create functionalized groups for further grafting.
