Biomaterials: Antimicrobial surfaces in biomedical engineering and healthcare

Contamination of biomedical products with pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and viruses) is one of the main causes of hospital-acquired infections (HAI), and a major burden to the healthcare system. The development of biomaterials that can hamper the contamination of surfaces is vital to decrease patient-related infections in healthcare settings. In this landscape, this review identifies some of the latest antimicrobial strategies while paying particular attention to emerging antimicrobial biomaterials and nature-inspired antimicrobial surface topographies, which are rapidly finding application in the fabrication of biomedical engineering constructs.