Pressurized dip coating system

1. A method of coating a medical device, the method comprising the steps of:

placing a medical device into a coating vessel;

reducing pressure within the coating vessel

adding a coating composition to the coating vessel in an amount sufficient to contact the medical device;

increasing pressure in the coating vessel to a predetermined super-atmospheric pressure;

circulating the coating composition into and out of the coating vessel for a predetermined amount of time;

draining the coating composition from the coating vessel;

drying the coated medical device while positioned within the coating vessel; and

removing a coated medical device from the coating vessel.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the medical device is selected from the group consisting of sutures, staples, meshes, stems, grafts, clips, pins, screws, tacks, slings, drug delivery devices, wound dressings, and combinations thereof.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the medical device a multifilament suture.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of reducing pressure in the coating vessel comprises reducing the pressure to a range from about 740 to about 1 mmHg.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of reducing pressure in the coating vessel comprises reducing the pressure to a range from about 100 to about 10 mmHg.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the coating composition is bioabsorbable.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the bioabsorbable coating composition comprises materials selected from the group consisting of polycaprolactone (PCL), poly-D, L-lactic acid (DL-PLA), poly-L-lactic acid (L-PLA), poly(lactide-co-glycolide), poly(hydroxybutyrate), poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-valerate), polydioxanone, polyorthoester, polyanhydride, poly(glycolic acid), poly(glycolic acid-cotrimethylene carbonate), polyphosphoester, polyphosphoester urethane, poly (amino acids), cyanoacrylates, poly(trimethylene carbonate), poly(iminocarbonate), copoly(ether-esters), polyalkylene oxalates, polyphosphazenes, polyiminocarbonates, aliphatic polycarbonates, heparin, fibrin, fibrinogen, cellulose, starch, collagen and combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the coating composition is biostable.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the biostable coating composition comprises materials selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, polyethylene, polyethlyene teraphthalate, ethylene vinyl acetate, silicone, polyethylene oxide, polytetrafluoroethylene and combinations thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the coating composition comprises a fatty acid salt.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the coating composition further comprises a bioactive agent.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of increasing pressure in the coating vessel comprises increasing the pressure to a range of about 761 mmHg to about 2 atmospheres.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of increasing pressure in the coating vessel comprises increasing the pressure to a range of about 770 mmHg to about 900 mmHg.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of circulating the coating composition for a predetermined amount of time comprises circulating the coating from about 10 seconds to about 60 minutes.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of circulating the coating composition for a predetermined amount of time comprises circulating the coating from about 2 minutes to about 10 minutes.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of drying the medical device comprises drawing a gas through the coating vessel over the medical device having the coating composition on at least a portion thereof.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the step of drawing a gas through the coating vessel comprises drawing heated nitrogen gas through the coating vessel.

18. A method of coating a medical device, the method comprising the steps of:

placing a medical device into a coating vessel;

reducing pressure within the coating vessel to a range from about 100 to about 10 mmHg

adding a coating composition to the coating vessel in an amount sufficient to contact the medical device;

increasing pressure in the coating vessel to a range of about 761 mmHg to about 2 atmospheres;

circulating the coating composition into and out of the coating vessel for a predetermined amount of time;

draining the coating composition from the coating vessel;

drying the coated medical device while positioned within the coating vessel; and

removing a coated medical device from the coating vessel.