Real-time measurement of protein adsorption on electrophoretically deposited hydroxyapatite coatings and magnetron sputtered metallic films using the surface acoustic wave technique.

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) biosensors are highly sensitive for mass binding and are therefore used to detect protein-protein and protein-antibody interactions. Whilst the standard surface of the chips is a thin gold film, measurements on implant- or bone-like surfaces could significantly enhance the range of possible applications for this technique. The aim of this study was to establish methods to coat biosensor chips with Ti, TiN, and silver-doped TiN using physical vapor deposition as well as with hydroxyapatite by electrophoresis. To demonstrate that protein adsorption can be detected on these surfaces, binding experiments with fibronectin and fibronectin-specific antibodies have been performed with the coatings, which successfully proved the applicability of PVD and EPD for SAW biosensor functionalization.