Protein fouling can render a biomedical device dysfunctional, and also serves to nucleate the foreign body reaction to an implanted material. Hydrophilic coatings have emerged as a commonly applied route to combat interface-mediated complications and promote device longevity and limited inflammatory response. While polyethylene glycol has received a majority of the attention in this regard, coatings based on zwitterionic moieties have been more recently explored. Sulfobetaines in particular constitute one such class of zwitterions explored for use in mitigating surface fouling, and have been shown to reduce protein adsorption, limit cellular adhesion, and promote increased functional lifetimes and limited inflammatory responses when applied to implanted materials and devices. Here, we present a focused review of the literature surrounding sulfobetaine, beginning with an understanding of its chemistry and the methods by which it is applied to the surface of a biomedical device in molecular and polymeric forms, and then advancing to the many early demonstrations of function in a variety of biomedical applications. Finally, we provide some insights into the benefits and challenges presented by its use, as well as some outlook on the future prospects for using this material to improve biomedical device practice by addressing interface-mediated complications.

蛋白质结垢会导致生物医​​学设备功能失调，并且还会使异物反应对植入材料产生核作用。亲水性涂层已成为对抗界面介导的并发症并促进装置寿命和限制炎症反应的常用方法。尽管聚乙二醇在这方面受到了大多数的关注，但是基于两性离子部分的涂料最近才被研究。磺基甜菜碱尤其构成一类两性离子，已被探索用于减轻表面结垢，并且已显示出将其减少到蛋白质吸附，限制细胞粘附，促进更长的功能寿命和有限的炎症反应时，应用于植入的材料和设备。这里，我们对磺基甜菜碱的文献进行了重点回顾，首先是对它的化学性质以及将其以分子和聚合物形式应用于生物医学装置表面的方法的理解，然后发展到许多早期的功能证明。多种生物医学应用。最后，我们提供了有关使用这种材料带来的好处和挑战的一些见解，以及使用该材料通过解决界面介导的并发症来改善生物医学设备实践的未来前景的一些前景。