Research Project
2867221
DESCRIPTION: (adapted from the applicant's abstract). Biomaterial infection is a topic of concern with considerable human and economic costs. The investigators seek to develop infection -- resistant polyurethanes using techniques from polymer chemistry, textile science and biomedical research. Their university collaborators' have generated infection-resistant polyester materials that do not require modification of polymer or the need for binder materials. They have hypothesized that quinoline antibiotics can "dye" biomedically-useful polyurethanes using standard textile dyeing techniques to produce clinically useful materials with long-term infection resistance. The proposal is to optimize and characterize the uptake of Ciprofloxacin by polycarbonate-based polyurethanes. The release of the antibiotic will be examined spectrophotometrically and using standard microbiological techniques. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: Development of a polyurethane biomaterial with long-term infection resistance has applications in wa wide range of implantable devices, such as indwelling catheters, vascular grafts, stents, and as coatings on existing catheters. Infections of these products is a topic of current and growing concern with considerable economic cost. For example, around 50- 100,000 indwelling catheters become infected every year in the U.S. with concomitant human suffering and cost implications. Conservative estimates indicate that the U.S. market for such infection-resistant products in greater than $300 million annually.
