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.