SBIR Phase I: Air Barrier System to reduce contamination of wounds during surgery

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will investigate the ability of a device technology currently in development to prevent the intrusion of infection-causing microorganisms into surgery sites via the airborne vector. The research to-date conducted on working prototypes during bench studies and cadaver surgeries corroborates the hypothesis that the device dramatically reduces the presence of microorganisms and airborne particulate at surgery sites versus control groups. SBIR Phase I funding will allow additional research to be conducted in order to demonstrate the device's effectiveness in a clinical trial of 63 surgery procedures. Affirmative Phase I results will lead to the anticipated goal of Phase II research to determine if the device can effectively reduce the incidence of surgical site infections in high-risk surgeries during a larger multi-site trial. The broader impacts of this research are the potential reduction of surgical site infections and the contribution to a better understanding of the vectors of infection. Patients contracting an infection during high-risk procedures face considerable hardships, and evidence shows that elderly, less affluent, and non-urban populations are more likely to succumb to an SSI after prosthesis implant surgeries. The cost of treating surgical site infections developing after high-risk surgeries is greater than $1.7 billion annually and is projected to grow rapidly through the year 2030. The technology under development can potentially reduce cost to the healthcare system and prevent human suffering caused by such infections.