Preventing bacterial implant infection through novel coating technology

AMBITION: Antimicrobial technologies for prevention of bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation in clinical infection

Hospital acquired infections after the placement of a medical implant are a serious and increasingly common complication. Treatment is difficult and often requires major re-operations and even amputations. The problem is exacerbated by increasing bacterial resistance to traditional antibiotics. New technologies are needed to protect the implants from bacterial colonization and subsequent biofilm formation on the implant surface. In the AMBITION project, new antimicrobial surface treatments (coatings) for implants are being developed to which bacteria cannot develop resistance.

The wide application of this surface treatment should make it possible to drastically reduce the implant infection incidence in the clinic, especially in diabetic patients, where infection rates can be as high as 30%. This will greatly lower the burden of disease for the patient, reducing the time spent in hospital and/or completely eliminating the need for re-operation. In this way, the technology will also help in reducing the short- and long-term health care cost, which for patients suffering from an implant associated infection can easily exceed €100.000,- per patient.

After development, the bioactivity, biological safety and antimicrobial properties of these coatings will be tested in various laboratory tests according to relevant ISO standards and eventually also evaluated in animal models.

Additionally, they will develop a new model to simulate and evaluate the changing chemical and morphological properties of biofilms during implant surface formation, which can then be visualised using high-resolution imaging. Such a model can provide insight into the pathogenesis of implant infection and biofilm formation and can therefore be the key to the successful development of antimicrobial technologies.

Successfully demonstrating alternative coating technology in pre-clinical models will stimulate investment by large medical device manufacturers and venture capitalists, which will help bring the newly developed technologies to market faster.

More information can be found here

Summary
In the AMBITION project, new surface treatments (coatings) for implants are being developed that bacteria cannot develop resistance to. The wide application of this surface treatment should make it possible to drastically reduce infections of implants. After development, the bioactivity, biological safety and antimicrobial properties of these coatings will be tested in various laboratory tests according to ISO 10993 standard and eventually also evaluated in animal models.
Technology Readiness Level (TRL)
2 - 4
Time period
36 months
Partners
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