Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x24gv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T19:04:30.228Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Reducing Infections Using Nanotechnology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2014

Thomas J. Webster
Thomas J. Webster*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA Center of Excellence for Advanced Materials Research, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
*
*Email:th.webster@neu.edu
Get access

Abstract

Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is a serious and costly clinical problem. Specifically, receiving mechanical ventilation for over 24 hours increases the risk of VAP and is associated with high morbidity, mortality and medical costs. Cost effective endotracheal tubes (ETTs) that are resistant to bacterial infection could help prevent this problem. The objective of this study was to determine differences in the growth of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) on nanomodified and unmodified polyvinyl chloride (PVC) ETTs under dynamic airway conditions. PVC ETTs were modified to have nanometer surface features by soaking them in Rhizopus arrhisus, a fungal lipase. Twenty-four hour experiments (supported by computational models) showed that air flow conditions within the ETT influenced both the location and concentration of bacterial growth on the ETTs especially within areas of tube curvature. More importantly, experiments revealed a 1.5 log reduction in the total number of S. aureus on the novel nanomodified ETTs compared to the conventional ETTs after 24 hours of air flow. This dynamic study showed that lipase etching can create nano-rough surface features on PVC ETTs that suppress S. aureus growth and, thus, may provide clinicians with an effective and inexpensive tool to combat VAP.

Keywords

biomaterialnanoscalenanostructure
Type
Articles
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1621: Symposium H/C/D/J – Advances in Structures, Properties and Applications of Biological and Bioinspired Materials , 2014 , pp. 25 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Haley, R.W. “Incidence and nature of endemic and epidemic nosocomial infections”, in Bennett and Brachman's Hospital Infections, edited by Bennett, J.V., Brachman, P.S. and Jarvis, W.R.. (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Boston, 2007) p.359–374.Google Scholar
Gaynes, R. and Edwards, J.R.. Overview of nosocomial infections caused by gramnegative bacilli. Clin. Infect. Dis. 41, 848–854 (2005).Google Scholar
Baltimore, R.S. The difficulty of diagnosing VAP. Pediatrics 112, 1420–1421(2003).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bahrani-Mougeot, F.K., Paster, B.J., and Coleman, S.. Molecular analysis of oral and respiratory bacterial species associated with ventilator-associated pneumonia. J. Clin. Microbiol. 45, 1588–1593 (2007).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koerner, R. J. Contribution of endotracheal tubes to the pathogenesis of ventilatorassociated pneumonia. J. Hosp. Infect. 35, 83–89 (1997).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carsons, S. E., Fibronectin in Health and Disease. (CRC Press Inc., New York, 1989).Google Scholar
Machado, M.C., Cheng, D., Tarquinio, K.M., and Webster, T.J.. Nanotechnology: Pediatric Applications. Pediatr. Res., 67(5), 500–504 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klein, J. Probing the interactions of proteins and nanoparticles. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 104, 2029–2030 (2007).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, H., and Webster, T.J.. Nanomedicine for implants: A review of studies and necessary experimental tools. Biomaterials 28, 354–369 (2006).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lichter, J.A, Thompson, M.T., Delgadillo, M., Nishikawa, T., Rubner, M.F., and Van Vliet, K. J.. Substrata mechanical stiffness can regulate adhesion of viable bacteria. Biomacromolecules 9(6), 1571–1578 (2008).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diaz, C., Cortizo, M.C, Schilardi, P.L, Saravia, S.G.G, and Mele, M.A.F.L.. Influence of the nano-micro structure of the surface on bacterial adhesion. Mat. Res. 10(1), 11–14 (2007).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, S.A., and Talbot, L.. Flow in curved pipes. Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech. 15,461–512 (1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rusconi, R., Lecuyer, S., Guglielmini, L., and Stone, H.A.. Laminar flow around corners triggers the formation of biofilm streamers. J. R. Soc. Interface 7, 1293–1299 (2010).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hartmann, M., Guttmann, J., Muller., B., Hallmann, T., and Geiger, K.. Reduction of the bacterial load by the silver-coated endotracheal tube (SCET) a laboratory investigation. Technol. Health Care 7, 359–370 (1999).Google ScholarPubMed
Seil, J.T., Rubien, N.M., Webster, T.J., and Tarquinio, K.M.. Comparison of quantification methods illustrates reduced Pseudomonas aeruginosa activity on nanorough polyvinyl chloride. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. B, 9B(1):1–7, 2011.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dellinger, R, Jean, P and Cinel, S. Regional distribution of acoustic-based lung vibration as a function of mechanical ventilation mode. Crit Care. 11, R26 (2007).CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Microbiology, An Introduction. (Tortura, Funke, Case, California, 1998).Google Scholar
Davis, Dulbecco, Eisen, Ginsberg, Bacterial Physiology: Microbiology, 2nd ed., (Harper and Row, Maryland, 1973) p.96–97.Google Scholar