Coatings for surgical instruments

A method for manufacturing a coated medical instrument comprising:

• depositing a first layer on a metal substrate surface of a medical instrument by vapor deposition, the first layer comprising chromium (Cr), hafnium (Hf), titanium (Ti), and/or niobium (Nb);
• depositing a second layer on the first layer by vapor deposition, the second layer bonded to the first layer, and the second layer comprising a nitride, oxide, carbide, carbonitride, or boride of chromium (Cr), hafnium (Hf), niobium (Nb), tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), zirconium (Zr), and/or silicon (Si);
• and
• depositing a third layer on the second layer by vapor deposition, the third layer comprising a nitride, oxide, carbide, boride, oxynitride, oxycarbide, or oxycarbonitride of chromium (Cr), hafnium (Hf), niobium (Nb), tungsten (W), titanium (Ti), aluminum (Al), zirconium (Zr), and/or silicon (Si);
• wherein the method further comprises a reactive plasma surface cleaning-conditioning process before depositing at least one of the first, second, and third layers.