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Coatings
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Thin Film Coatings for Medical Biosensing Applications
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Thin Film Coatings for Medical Biosensing Applications

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Functional Polymer Coatings and Films".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 December 2025 | Viewed by 478

Special Issue Editors

Dr. José Carlos Fonseca

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Engenharia Mecânica, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto and LAETA/INEGI, Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, R. Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
Interests: biomedical devices; bioelectrodes; electrochemical coatings; polymer coatings; surface functionalization; material characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Patrique Fiedler

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Informatics, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Ilmenau, Germany
Interests: biomedical sensors; signal processing; machine learning; electrophysiology; wearable medical devices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Thin film technology has revolutionized the field of biosensing, functionalizing materials and enabling precise, real-time monitoring of biological analytes and physiological signals with high sensitivity and specificity. Specifically, it allows for the preparation of surfaces with specific physicochemical properties which are different from those of bulk materials and that able to reach high levels of sensitivity, reproducibility, and miniaturization. At present, the applications of medical biosensing range from point-of-care diagnostics to therapeutic drug monitoring, pre-natal and neo-natal care, respiratory monitoring, neurological disorders, and cardiovascular health.

On the other hand, biosensors are already enabling patients and healthy users alike to perform health management and well-being surveillance from home, contributing to a better quality of life and decreasing healthcare costs. Furthermore, combining biosensors with artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, or wearable devices will further enhance their ability to personalize medical care, enabling the early diagnosis of health problems and personalized treatment plans.

We are pleased to invite you to submit original research papers or reviews on medical sensors based on thin film technology. These submissions may include the development of a sensor or sensor arrays or the in vitro and in vivo characterizations and applications of sensors, including biosignal conditioning.

Dr. José Carlos Fonseca
Prof. Dr. Patrique Fiedler
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • thin film coatings
  • biosensor
  • medical device
  • biosignal processing
  • wearable medical devices
  • machine learning

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 4466 KiB  
Article
Quality and Lifetime of Thin Parylene F-VT4 Coatings for Hermetic Encapsulation of Implantable Medical Devices
by Esmaeil Afshari, Rik Verplancke, Maarten Cauwe and Maaike Op de Beeck
Coatings 2025, 15(6), 648; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings15060648 - 28 May 2025
Viewed by 365
Abstract
This study comprehensively examines the barrier properties, aging behavior, and failure mechanisms of Parylene F-VT4 films, applied at four distinct thicknesses (0.3 µm, 0.6 µm, 0.9 µm, and 1.2 µm), as encapsulation layers for implantable medical devices. Parylene F-VT4, a fluorinated polymer known [...] Read more.
This study comprehensively examines the barrier properties, aging behavior, and failure mechanisms of Parylene F-VT4 films, applied at four distinct thicknesses (0.3 µm, 0.6 µm, 0.9 µm, and 1.2 µm), as encapsulation layers for implantable medical devices. Parylene F-VT4, a fluorinated polymer known for its mechanical flexibility, thermal stability, and chemical inertness, is a promising candidate for long-term hermetic encapsulation. Parylene F-VT4 was uniformly deposited via a dedicated chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process typically used for Parylene depositions. The investigation of the Parylene F-VT4 films included pinhole density characterization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and testing of coating lifetime based on the resistance of Cu meanders protected by Parylene F-VT4 when immersed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) under accelerated aging conditions (PBS at 60 °C) over 550 days. The EIS results demonstrated that thicker coatings (1.2 µm) exhibited excellent barrier properties and resistance to electrolyte penetration, whereas thinner coatings (0.3 µm and 0.6 µm) showed more rapid degradation due to microvoids and pinholes. The temporal evaluation of EIS spectra highlighted the gradual decrease in impedance magnitude, indicating the ingress of ions and water into the coating. The lifetime in PBS at 60 °C was determined by resistance-based lifetime measurements on Cu meander structures coated with Parylene F-VT4 coatings. The lifetime at 37 °C was calculated, assuming an acceleration factor of 2 per 10 °C increase in temperature, yielding lifetimes of approximately 25 days, 6.4 months, 2.3 years, and 4.5 years for 0.3 µm, 0.6 µm, 0.9 µm, and 1.2 µm coatings, respectively. These findings highlight the critical relationship between thickness and durability, providing valuable insights into the long-term performance of thin Parylene F-VT4 films for implantable devices. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thin Film Coatings for Medical Biosensing Applications)
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