Ultralow adhesion silicone coatings to reduce rates of biofilm formation and associated infection

医院获得性感染是指患者在医院内由于受污染的医疗设备或将健康组织暴露在外部细菌中的程序而感染的疾病。这些继发性感染往往很难治疗，特别是最近抗生素耐药性的上升，往往会导致住院时间延长、巨额医疗费用甚至死亡。该项目旨在开发基于自润滑机制的、具有先进的无污垢和防粘表面性能的有机硅基涂料。我们的目标是开发这些高度不粘、光滑的医用管(导管)涂层，以显著降低细菌在表面的附着率。我们之前的结果表明，这些表面处理是非常有效的，我们相信它们可以极大地降低医院获得性感染的发生率。

'Hospital acquired infections' refer to infections that patients acquire within hospitals due to contaminated medical devices, or dueto procedures that expose healthy tissue to external bacteria. These secondary infections can often be very hard to treat,especially with a recent rise in antibiotic resistance, and can often lead to extended hospital stays, significant healthcare costs andeven death. This project aims to develop silicone-based coatings that have advanced non-fouling and anti-adhesive surfaceproperties, based on a self-lubricating mechanism. We aim to develop these highly non-stick, slippery coatings for medical tubing(catheters) to significantly reduce rates of bacterial attachment to the surface. Our previous results show these surface treatmentsare highly effective, and we believe they could greatly reduce rates of hospital acquired infection.