H. Bouloussa
DeBogy Molecular, Inc.,
United States
Keywords: covalent grafting, biocidal, surface modification, infection prevention, viruses, bacteria, fungi, hygiene, sterility
Summary:
The demand for germ-free surfaces continues to increase, and there is no greater need for a sterile, biocidal surface than with a biomedical device or implant. Current anti-microbial technologies--characterized by toxic coatings, transient sprays and short-acting antibiotics--are severely limited Implant related infections (IRIs) account for over half of the 2 million yearly healthcare-associated infection in the U.S. Treating these post-operative infections carries an enormous personal and financial burden. The full cost of medical device-related implant infections in the U.S. alone is estimated at $27 billion dollars annually. The common protocol to counter IRIs today is the use of site-specific antibiotics or antiseptic solutions, applied internally at the conclusion of surgery to prevent bacterial infection in the tissues that directly surround the physical implant. However, these preventive measures do little to control the growth of bacterial biofilm on the surface of the implant itself (most often medical-grade titanium or composites). It is the biofilm on the surface that becomes the most challenging and dangerous source of postoperative infection. Once formed, an IRI will consume significant health resources to mitigate and in more than half the cases will require a surgical revision to eliminate. For patients already burdened with comorbidities or age- related risks, a surgical revision yields dangerously high rates of morbidity and mortality. Alternatively, patients left to cope may face a lifetime of exposure to suppressive antibiotics and pain medications coupled with a steady decline in their overall quality of life. Moreover, despite improved awareness about hand hygiene, high-touch surfaces are now rightfully recognized as targets of interest for antimicrobial technologies. Indeed, the indiscriminate spread of germs on high touch surfaces is acute and not likely to subside. We developed a novel, biocidal, non-leaching, contact-killing, and covalently graftable chemical platform designed to durably protect a wide range of medical and non-medical substrates from bacteria, viruses, and fungi. The process is fully scalable. In vitro and in vivo studies will be presented that provide evidence for these applications on various substrates with comparisons to standard of care approaches (i.e in the orthopaedic field, titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) or cotton and synthetics for textiles). In this manner, this presentation introduces a new surface modification technology that can be tailored to permanently treat a wide range of substrates.