PERMANENT ANTIMICROBIAL MEDICAL PLASTIC

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Technology innovations to reduce infection brought about by cross- contamination of patients staying in healthcare facilities can have major significance to the medical community in terms of both dollars and human lives . Approximately 5% to 10% of all patients entering a hospital will contact some form of infection during their stay at the healthcare facility. It is estimated that hospitals spend over 5 billion annually and over 100,000 lives can be lost as a result of nosocomial infections. Statistics show that personal hygiene consisting mainly of hand washing with antimicrobial soaps does not occur frequently enough to prevent the 5 billion dollar expenditure that healthcare facilities endure on an annual basis. Unfo rtunately, medical products containing only 0.1-1.0% of leachable antimicrobial additives only provide temporary antimicrobial action because the biocidal agent can be easily removed by washing or wiping the surface of the medical product. Brighton Develop ment has developed a 100% permanent antimicrobial plastic that can be used in numerous medical products found in the healthcare community. In Phase I, we would like to focus on exploiting the feasibility of this discovery as a permanent antimicrobial mater ial and demonstrate its advantages in combating infection in the healthcare environment. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This application is aimed at developing a permanent antimicrobial medical plastic that can be used to reduce the billions of dollars spent ann ually by healthcare facilities to combat patient infections. Statistics show that the magnitude of this problem affects from 5-10% of all people entering the hospital and accounts for annual expenditures by the medical community of over 5 billion dollars e ven with documented frequencies of antimicrobial hand washing by hospital staff. A truly durable antimicrobial plastic material could find numerous uses in medical products throughout healthcare facilities.