NSF Award
0109500
This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I (SBIR) project will develop a novel antimicrobial<br/>surface modification for polymeric biomaterials. This surface modification could be used to develop antimicrobial catheters, hubs, fabrics, and surfaces for medical instruments, as well as biofilm resistant dental and water lines. The need for antimicrobial catheters is great. Every year in the U.S., twenty million hospital patients are catheterized. Use of these devices places large numbers of patients at risk for a variety of catheter-related infectious complications. In U.S. ICUs approximately 500 to 4000 patients die<br/>annually of central venous catheter-related bloodstream infections. The annual cost of caring for patients with central line-associated blood stream infections is $60 to $460 million. This Phase I project proposes a novel antimicrobial surface modification (1) that will covalently attach active groups to the surface of a variety of plastics, including polymers commonly used in medicine; (2) that can be formed on both the inner and outer surfaces of complex geometries; (3) that will inhibit bacterial adhesion by nonspecific oxidative destruction and by electrostatic repulsion of negatively charged bacteria; (4) that will be effective against bacteria, fungi, and spores; and (5) that will not promote increased antibiotic resistance.<br/><br/>The primary commercial application of this project will be in the medical instrumentation market.
