Anti-bacterial Nanocomposite Coatings for Catheters
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection and encrustation have a severe impact on human health and health care costs. Silver has a strong antimicrobial activity. However numerous clinical studies have shown that the use of silver-coated urinary catheters has resulted in an insignificant reduction in infection or encrustation, as bacteria (dead and alive) strongly stick to the silver-coated surfaces. Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) has inherent non-stick property. Our new idea for preventing catheter-related infection and encrustation is to incorporate biocompatible PTFE nano-particles into a silver coating using a cost-effective electroless deposition technique.
surface free energy
Our preliminary results show that the new silver-PTFE coatings reduce bacterial attachment significantly, including E. coli, P. aeruginosa, S. epidermidis, S. aureus and Proteus mirabilis, compared with silver coatings. The purpose of this proposed research project is to further develop novel silver-PTFE nanocomposite coatings on Foley catheters and to evaluate their anti-biofilm and anti-encrustation properties, under the conditions that will mimic in vivo environments of the human bladder for catheters for long period of time.
Links
- Dr Qi Zhao Research Page: http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~qzhao/
- Dr Qi Zhao Research Grants: http://www.personal.dundee.ac.uk/~qzhao/Home%20page%20research%20support.htm
- Non-Leaching Antimicrobial Silver PTFE Surfactant Coatings for Preventing Catheter Related Infections: http://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/ViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=GR/R57218/01
- Who is Doing What Academic Research in the UK in Urological Devices & Materials: http://www.bitecic.com/NOV_PDF/UrologyAcademicMatrix_JWAFinal_Oct2005.pdf
- Research Grants awarded by the Chief Scientist Office: http://www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/cso/Publications/rm34/rm34.pdf
Papers
- Dr Qi Zhao (q.zhao@dundee.ac.uk)
- Prof Eric Abel (e.w.abel@dundee.ac.uk)
del.icio.us
digg
reddit
facebook
stumbleupon