Hospital acquired infections have become a major challenge to patient safety. According to the European Centre for Disease prevention & Control, ECDC – which is an official EU agency – 4,1 million patients are estimated to acquire a healthcare associated infection in the European Union each year. The number of deaths as a direct consequence of these infections are 37,000 annually and seemingly, hospital acquired infections contribute to another 110,000 deaths per year.
It is difficult to treat these infections with antibiotics and treatment is complicated by the resistance of microbes to many antibiotics. Also, it is estimated that half of the infections that are acquired in a healthcare facility are device related. This might include various catheters, endotracheal tubes and implanted devices. All the more reason for the medical industry to focus on effectively treating the cause of this increasing problem.
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions, Tustin is a US based manufacturer of silicone medical products, represented by MER in Europe. Silicone is popular for use in medical devices and components for its excellent biocompatibility and biostability. It is therefore often used for implant applications and other devices that are in direct contact with the human body – either if it is for longer or shorter term.
TSS has developed a groundbreaking and cost effective technology that virtually eliminates the device related cause of hospital acquired infections. Their immersion process impregnates silicone components and devices with various antibiotics. Extensive studies have been performed that prove the effectiveness of the immersion process and that provide an important platform for using numerous other antibiotic drugs and active pharmaceutical ingredients in medical devices.
TSS has recently published a white paper that you can download here: “Immersion-impregnation process for the manufacture of Antimicrobial silicone components” This whitepaper talks about their approach and provides details on the performed studies.
TSS provides solutions to fight those harmful microbes.
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Update: MER does not represent this company anymore. However, if you are interested in the mentioned capabilities – please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be pleased to refer you.