This project will further develop two methods for incorporating antibiotics into surface coatings, and also compare the relative utility of the two methods, direct incorporation of the antibiotic into the coating at manufacture vs. imbibition of the antibiotic into the coating just prior to catheterization and the feasibility of incorporation acetohydroxamic acid, an inhibitor of bacterial urase in the coatings to reduce mineral encrustation. At the very lease, the Contractor expects to find one or more coating compositions that will provide slow release of antibiotic over a two-week or longer period, and have effective antibiotic concentrations near the device surface as demonstrated by zone of inhibition tests against typical urinary tract organisms. Management of urinary tract infections resulting from catheterization is a growing problem as our population ages. We believe that focusing the antibiotic on the urethral urinary catheter surface will mean low aggregate dosage level while still achieving useful concentrations on the device surface thus eliminating many of the side effects that are typical with vascular administration of antibiotics.
