Coating Polyurethane Surfaces by Electrostatic Charging Followed by Dip Coating/Electrophoretic Deposition
Aim Surface associated infections are one of the main causes for failures associated with medical devices. Bacterial localization and biofilm formation may lead to acute and chronic infection. Biofilm on the surface protects the bacteria from the immune system and antibiotic therapy. This needs aggressive treatment of antibiotics. The high doses of antibiotic treatment prevent healthy tissue formation at the site and triggers antibiotic resistance. Thus, to prevent infections, various strategies have been developed besides conventional systemic and local antibiotic treatment. Recently, there is an increasing interest for coating these surfaces to improve bioactivity and prevent infection. The current study aimed to modify the surface of polyurethane endotracheal tubes by charging them electrostatic ally to induce a positive and then coating them with an anti- bacterial protein via dip coating(3 times for a minute each) and electrophoretic deposition(using titanium foil as counter and working electrode at a voltage of 20V for 10 minutes). Results and conclusion (a) (b) Figure 1: SEM images of the coated surfaces A thick and uniform coating was achieved on both the inside and outside surfaces of the tubes. Bioactivity of the protein was maintained and the entire process was cost and time efficient. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank N8 Medical devices and Northeastern university for funding and Brigham Young University for providing the endotracheal tubes.