Project Grant R43DK136411

NITRIC OXIDE RELEASING ULTRA-SLIPPERY ANTIBACTERIAL SURFACES FOR UROLOGICAL CATHETER APPLICATIONS - ABSTRACT URINARY CATHETERS ARE ONE OF THE MOST WIDELY USED MEDICAL DEVICES IN A HOSPITAL SETTING AND ARE EXPECTED TO ONLY INCREASE IN GROWTH DUE TO THE AGING POPULATION. OUT OF ALL THE VARIOUS BIOMEDICAL DEVICES THAT ARE FREQUENTLY USED IN A CLINICAL SETTING, URINARY CATHETERS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE LARGEST PORTION OF MEDICAL COMPLICATIONS RELATED TO INFECTION. CATHETER ASSOCIATED URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS (CAUTIS) ACCOUNT FOR NEARLY 40% OF ALL HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATED INFECTIONS (HAIS) AND CAN LEAD TO EXTENDED HOSPITAL STAYS FOR PATIENTS WHICH IN TURN LEADS TO HIGHER HEALTHCARE COSTS. TO OVERCOME THIS RISK OF INFECTION, A CATHETER SURFACE THAT IS ABLE TO PREVENT BACTERIAL ADHESION AND BIOFILM FORMATION WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY ELIMINATING PLANKTONIC BACTERIA PRESENT IN THE VICINITY IS HIGHLY DESIRABLE. HOWEVER, NO LONG-TERM CATHETER SOLUTION HAS BEEN ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH THIS GOAL. NYTRICX, INC. HAS DEVELOPED PROPRIETARY METHODS AND KNOW-HOW DEVELOPING ANTI-INFECTIVE NITRIC OXIDE (NO) RELEASING INTERFACES CAPABLE OF EFFECTIVELY ELIMINATING A WIDE VARIETY OF BACTERIAL STRAINS WHILE BEING ABLE TO ELICIT NO CYTOTOXIC RESPONSE FROM MAMMALIAN CELL LINES. NYTRICX, INC. HAS ALSO DEMONSTRATED THAT THE LIQUID-INFUSION OF SILICONE OIL TO CREATE A SUPER SLIPPERY SURFACE IS ABLE TO PREVENT THE ADHESION OF PROTEINS AND BACTERIA AND THUS ELIMINATE BIOFILMS. A SYNERGISTIC ANTIMICROBIAL RESPONSE IS ACHIEVED BY COMBINING LIQUID-INFUSED STRATEGY AND NO RELEASING POLYMERS (LINOREL). THE OVERALL OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I SBIR APPLICATION IS TO CREATE A LONG-TERM HIGHLY ANTIMICROBIAL URINARY CATHETER THROUGH A COMBINATION OF IMPREGNATING FOLEY CATHETERS WITH A NO DONOR, S-NITROSO-N- ACETYLPENICILLAMINE (SNAP), WITH A LIQUID-INFUSED SILICONE OIL INTERFACE AND TO EVALUATE COMMERCIALIZATION FEASIBILITY IN TERMS OF MECHANICAL AND BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES.