The Use of Dye-Like Interactions for Developing Novel Infection-Resistant Materials

Abstract

Textile and other polymeric materials are ubiquitous in medical devices, whether used in implanted (e.g. prosthetic arterial grafts, prosthetic valve sewing cuffs), percutaneous (e.g. catheters, sutures) or extra-corporeal (e.g. wound dressings, cardiac bypass pump tubing) devices.Depending on the use (in or out of the body, short or long term), these materials can suffer a variety of problems. One of the most significant is that of infection. Infection affects both the biomaterial and the patient. Infection in the biomaterial leads to failure, and the need for replacement with associated cost and risks. For the patient, limb loss and mortality are potential outcomes. The treatment for an infected biomaterial is typically a systemic dosage of antibiotic that represents a potential source of resistant strains of bacteria. For urinary and indwelling catheters the infection rate is as high as 40%. This series of projects began originally to look specifically at prosthetic arterial grafts, and problems of infection associated with them. It has led to a series of projects in which dye-like interactions of several different biomedical materials with bioactive materials have produced potentially useful products. © 2006 Woodhead Publishing Limited All rights reserved.