Methods, systems, and devices for applying and utilizing a water-soluble
polymer on a surface to provide desirable properties, attributes and/or
characteristics to the surface. In a first embodiment, the water-soluble
polymer at least partially fills one or more pores of a fluoropolymer or a
porous metal. In a second implementation, the water-soluble polymer is
mixed into a base material and the mixture is applied as a coating layer
onto the surface. Where the surface is an electrosurgical electrode tip,
the desirable properties, attributes and/or characteristics may include
the ability to attract water that assists in cooling and/or lubricating
the tip, to create a low shear, sacrificial layer that protects and
enhances the tip, to supply a radical scavenger or inhibitor that reduces
damage at the tip, and/or to deposit factors, such as healing factors,
from the tip onto one or more contact surfaces of the patient's body.
