I-Corps: Developing and commercializing microbicidal surgical incision coating

该I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发一种产品，以改善手术部位感染预防。所有外科手术中手术部位感染的风险估计超过2%，高风险手术估计高达22%。 手术部位感染（SSI）是四个关注的医疗保健相关感染（HAI）指标之一。SSI发生率的数据被公开报告，并告知医院排名和绩效。个别医院仔细跟踪与某些高风险程序相关的SSI，并将实施项目以帮助降低感染率。医院还承担与患者治疗相关的任何医疗费用，以及与解决SSI相关的重新入院费用。每个病人的住院费用增加了20 000多美元，住院时间平均延长了9.7天。总体而言，医疗保健系统每年要额外花费33亿美元来解决SSI。SSI也是患者的严重并发症，导致医疗保健系统利用率增加，医疗时间增加，发病率和死亡率增加。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种预防细菌性手术部位感染（SSI）的技术。 所提出的技术是由包含季铵化氮的长聚合物主链组成的材料。 该材料设计用于涂覆在待灭菌的表面上，并形成均匀的涂层。季氮是带正电荷的并且包括优化长度的酰基链。细菌通过静电相互作用被拉到材料上，细菌细胞膜被酰基链破坏。 杀菌材料可以提供几个优点，包括更长的保护时间，更持久的无菌区域覆盖，并且不存在可能是过敏原或皮肤刺激物的小分子化合物。 自20世纪80年代以来，外科感染预防方面没有重大技术进步。 这项技术可能会大大改变如何预防手术部位感染（SSI）和其他细菌感染的医疗设置。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a product to improve surgical site infection prevention. The risk of surgical site infection across all surgical procedures is estimated at over 2%, with higher-risk procedures estimated to be up 22%. Surgical site infections (SSIs) are one of four healthcare-associated infection (HAI) metrics of interest. Data on SSI occurrence is reported publicly, and informs hospital rankings and performance. Individual hospitals carefully track SSIs related to certain high-risk procedures and will implement projects to help reduce infection rates. Hospitals also cover any medical costs associated with patient treatment and re-admittance associated with resolving an SSI. Cost of hospitalization increases by more than $20,000 per patient, and extends hospital stays by an average of 9.7 days. Overall, there is a $3.3B additional cost to the healthcare system annually to resolve SSIs. SSIs also represent a severe complication for patients, leading to increased healthcare system utilization, additional time for medical treatment, and associated increases in morbidity and mortality. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a technology to prevent bacterial surgical site infections (SSI). The proposed technology is a material that consists of a long polymeric backbone inclusive of quaternized nitrogen. This material is designed to be applied to the surface to be sterilized and forms a uniform coating. The quaternary nitrogen is positively charged and includes an acyl chain of optimized length. Bacteria are pulled to the material via electrostatic interaction, and the bacterial cell membrane is disrupted by the acyl chain. A bactericidal material may offer several advantages including longer protection time, more durable coverage of the sterile area, and no small-molecule compounds present that may be allergens or skin irritants. There have been no significant technological advancements in surgical infection prevention since the 1980s. The proposed technology potentially may significantly shift how surgical site infections (SSI) and other bacterial infections in a healthcare setting are prevented.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.