Researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) have discovered a “silver bullet” to protect bacteria-free medical implants, the school said Wednesday.
The UBC team has developed a silver-based coating that can be easily applied to devices such as catheters and stents. The unique chemical composition of the product solves the numerous challenges in the use of silver for medical purposes.
“This is a highly effective coating that will not harm human tissues and can potentially eliminate implant-related infections,” Dr Jayachandran Kijakedatu, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, said in a statement Wednesday. “This can be very cost-effective and can be applied to many different products.”
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The main challenge in the use of silver in medical devices is its toxicity. While great for killing bacteria, too much poison can be harmful to human cells and tissues. Other problems with previous silver products include lack of durable or adhesive properties.
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Led by former doctoral student in chemistry Dr. Hossein Yazdani-Ahmedabadi, the UBC team has created a coating that releases silver in controlled quantities. This balances the line between killing harmful bacteria without affecting human cells.
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“Other silver-based coatings rely on contact killing, which means that bacteria have to attach to the material to be exposed to silver and die. This leads to the accumulation of dead bacteria on the surface over time and makes the device inefficient, “said Dr. Dirk Lange, associate professor of urology, in a statement with other team members.
“We prevent this by keeping bacteria out of the surface in the first place and then killing them by releasing silver. Because we prevent the attachment of both live and dead bacteria, this coating has significant potential to maintain a clean surface for any device or material for an extended period of time that we have not seen before.
The piercing “silver bullet” can be applied in various ways, including as a spray, and lasts longer than other previously developed coatings. Kizhakkedath Lab / UBC
The coating can be applied to almost any material used in medical devices and is inexpensive to apply due to the small amount used for the device.
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The research team is looking forward to seeing how the coating is presented in clinical trials and is optimistic that their discovery could be widely used to prevent infections in patients over the next decade.
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