It has been estimated that approximately a half million patients acquire urinary-tract infection in acute-care hospitals in this country every year. The use of the urinary catheter has been cited as the major cause for such infections, the most numerous of all nosocomial infections. This trend of steady or even increasing urinary tract nosocomial infection is not expected to change because of an aging population, requiring regimes of lengthy catheterization, and because of the incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In Phase I it was shown that one member of a family of polyalkylsulfone polymers (Registered Trademark BIOBLAND) was a superior coating for latex catheters. Such catheters showed a lower incidence of adhesion of a challenge organism than commercial materials, with various coatings and surface treatments. The subject acquisition is for the further development of this biocompatible coating for an urethral catheter.
