Breakthrough Nanotechnology Reduces Infection Rates of Medical Devices

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Article Date: 03 Aug 2005 - 23:00 PDT

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A scientific breakthrough in nanotechnology that has direct implications in the battle against hospital-related infections was disclosed to the public for the first time at the Micro Nano Breakthrough Conference, held last week in Portland, Oregon.

Bruce Gibbins, PhD, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Portland based AcryMed, Inc. presented findings on AcryMed's new silver nanoparticle technology, SilvaGard™. Through the discovery of how to create nanoparticles of silver in a solution that are easy to use and tenaciously adhere to surfaces, SilvaGard allows medical device manufacturers to apply antimicrobial silver to device surfaces in a uniform, non-hazardous and cost effective manner. For the first time, antimicrobial products can be created that are chemically and dimensionally unchanged, thus retaining all of their intended properties.

SilvaGard has already been licensed for its first medical device application and is currently in production.

"This is an important step forward in the fight against a serious public health problem-hospital related infections," stated Jack McMaken, president and CEO of AcryMed. "There are two million hospital acquired infections annually in this country--90,000 result in death. About half of these infections are associated with catheters and other percutaneous devices that provide a support surface for organisms to track into deeper tissue. A typical infection can cost as much as $47,000 per patient to treat. Our SilvaGard treatment provides a legitimate solution to many of these hospital related, life threatening infections by preventing the formation of biofilms on medical devices."

Dr. Gibbins' presentation, entitled "The Use of Precision Silver Nanoparticles for Protecting Indwelling Medical Devices From Biofilm Formation," took place at the Micro Nano Breakthrough Conference held on the Portland State University campus. Dr. Gibbins, a recognized authority on silver's antimicrobial properties, will draw on material from his upcoming article, "The Role of Antimicrobial Silver NanoTechnology" which will be featured in the August issue of Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry magazine.

SilvaGard is a new technology developed by AcryMed based on years of work with silver antimicrobial applications. AcryMed's SilvaSorb® wound dressings and SilvaSorb gel are recognized worldwide in the advanced wound care industry. The company was founded in 1993 by Dr. Gibbins who obtained his Ph.D. in Bacteriology and Public Health from Washington State University.

AcryMed (http://www.acrymed.com) is based in Portland, Oregon where it maintains GMP manufacturing and GLP lab facilities. The company is ISO certified and operates under ISO 13485 and EN 93/42/EEC.

Brad Brenner
http://www.acrymed.com
503-736-0610

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