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The CDC estimates that US patients suffer from 1.7 million hospital-acquired infections each year, resulting in nearly 100,000 deaths, a multi-billion dollar economic burden, and widespread use of antibiotic drugs. As stronger bacteria evolve and antibiotics become less effective, we must look at a new approach to address infection from implanted devices. According to testimonials from patients and clinicians, Foley catheters with Silq treatment have demonstrated a clear potential to reduce infection rates and are currently in clinical trials
See our technology in Biofilm Resistance.
The medical device market is a several billion dollar per year industry and massive amounts of money is spent on treating infections that stem from bacterial growth on implanted devices.
Silq treatments can be customized to coat a wide array of medical devices used across multiple subspecialties, including but not limited to catheters, silicone implants, including those used in plastic surgeries, endotracheal tubes, and more. Our goal is to drastically reduce complication rates and make procedures safer, more comfortable, less traumatic for patients
Silicone tubes were treated with Silq and exposed to clinically isolated bacteria from catheter-associated urinary tract infection patients. They were compared with bare silicone tubes using an ATPase assay to quantify active biomass content.
Below we demonstrate the effect of the Silq surface treatment on silicone tubes using glitter to represent cells floating in a medium. Two tubes are shown, a regular medical grade silicone version on the left and the Silq surface treated version on the right. This demonstrates the same phenomenon that resists the adhesion of microbial cells to medical device surfaces.
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