Methods to Regulate Biofilm Development to Prevent Infection on Indwelling or Implantable Medical Devices
CDC and partner researchers have designed methods for controlled attachment of bioactive bacteriophages to medical devices for reducing bacterial colonization and regulating biofilm development. With collaborators at the Georgia Institute of Technology, CDC has developed and patented a novel approach to covalently attach bacteriophages to hydrogel-coated catheters. These tethered bacteriophages can reduce bacterial attachment and biofilm formation on the catheter surface. Additional formulations could be developed for a range of other indwelling or implanted medical devices such as stents, shunts, feeding tubes, and artificial joints and maximal impact on infections could be achieved using a diverse cocktail of relatively broad host-ranged phages.
- Reduction of biofilm formation and microbial colonization on indwelling and implanted medical devices
- Natural, specific, infection-responsive approach
- Effective against multi-drug resistant bacteria
- Flexible technology applicable to various coatings/devices & phage strains or mixtures
- Localization/retention of bioactive phage to device