Nanotechnology: Providing Cost-Effective Solutions Towards Identifying and Preventing Swine Flu

New nanotechnology paints for walls, ceilings, and surfaces could be used to kill hospital superbugs

New nanotechnology paints for walls, ceilings, and surfaces could be used to kill hospital superbugs when fluorescent lights are switched on, scientists heard at the Society for General Microbiology's Autumn meeting being held this week at Trinity College, Dublin.

The new paints contain tiny particles of titanium dioxide, which is the dazzling white compound often used as a brightener in commercial paints. It will also be familiar to tennis fans as the powder used for the white lines to mark out the courts at Wimbledon.

Scientists have discovered that extremely small, nanoparticle-sized forms of titanium dioxide can kill bacteria and destroy dirt when they absorb ultraviolet light (UV) energy from the sun. They produce active molecules which clean up the painted surfaces.

"It would be best if the titanium was antibacterial at wavelengths of light that you find indoors, such as fluorescent light, so that paints containing the nanoparticles could be used in hospitals and other places where a clean environment is important," said Lucia Caballero from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

The researchers looked at the survival of the food poisoning bacterium Escherichia coli on different formulations of paints containing the titanium nanoparticles under different types and intensities of lights. "We found that paints containing titanium dioxide are more successful at killing bacteria if the concentration of the nanoparticles is stronger than in normal paint. Our best results showed that all the E. coli were killed under ordinary fluorescent lights," said Lucia Caballero.

"However, other common additives in paints, such as calcium carbonate, silica or talc decreased the antibacterial efficiency of the paint. If calcium carbonate was present the kill rate dropped by up to 80%," said Lucia Caballero. "Our tests on a commercially available paint showed that the ability of the paint to inactivate bacteria was massively reduced compared with a paint formulation which did not contain such additives."

With rising concern about the spread of hospital superbugs, healthcare trusts are increasingly looking to find better ways to maintain hygienic standards in hospitals. The same concerns are driving developments in the food industry and in pharmaceutical companies. These new nanoparticle paints could provide a simple and cost-effective solution.

"Facilities such as bathrooms and child care facilities, public conveniences and domestic bathrooms would all benefit from good hygiene control," said Lucia Caballero. "In all these places, surface hygiene could be improved by the action of fluorescent light on catalytic surfaces such as paints containing nanotitanium. This would slow down contamination and save on the costs of cleaning maintenance."

A scientific breakthrough in nanotechnology that has direct implications in the battle against hospital-related infections was disclosed to the public for the first time at the Micro Nano Breakthrough Conference, held last week in Portland, Oregon.

Bruce Gibbins, PhD, Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Portland based AcryMed, Inc. presented findings on AcryMed's new silver nanoparticle technology, SilvaGard. Through the discovery of how to create nanoparticles of silver in a solution that are easy to use and tenaciously adhere to surfaces, SilvaGard allows medical device manufacturers to apply antimicrobial silver to device surfaces in a uniform, non-hazardous and cost effective manner. For the first time, antimicrobial products can be created that are chemically and dimensionally unchanged, thus retaining all of their intended properties.

SilvaGard has already been licensed for its first medical device application and is currently in production.

"This is an important step forward in the fight against a serious public health problem-hospital related infections," stated Jack McMaken, president and CEO of AcryMed. "There are two million hospital acquired infections annually in this country--90,000 result in death. About half of these infections are associated with catheters and other percutaneous devices that provide a support surface for organisms to track into deeper tissue. A typical infection can cost as much as $47,000 per patient to treat. Our SilvaGard treatment provides a legitimate solution to many of these hospital related, life threatening infections by preventing the formation of biofilms on medical devices."

Dr. Gibbins' presentation, entitled "The Use of Precision Silver Nanoparticles for Protecting Indwelling Medical Devices From Biofilm Formation," took place at the Micro Nano Breakthrough Conference held on the Portland State University campus. Dr. Gibbins, a recognized authority on silver's antimicrobial properties, will draw on material from his upcoming article, "The Role of Antimicrobial Silver NanoTechnology" which will be featured in the August issue of Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry magazine.

SilvaGard is a new technology developed by AcryMed based on years of work with silver antimicrobial applications. AcryMed's SilvaSorb wound dressings and SilvaSorb gel are recognized worldwide in the advanced wound care industry. The company was founded in 1993 by Dr. Gibbins who obtained his Ph.D. in Bacteriology and Public Health from Washington State University.

nvision ALR, an emerging technology investment & operating company announced today that it is commercialising a new form of nanotechnology based infectious disease detection system with the capability to distinguish between different flu strains within seconds. The technology has already been shown to be effective in lab tests and the company is now accelerating the commercialisation program.

Envision ALR CEO Wassim Mourtada explained from Abu Dhabi "Global pandemics, or even the fear of them have a severe economic impact. With current disease identification technologies requiring blood samples to be shipped to a laboratory for testing, distinguishing between pandemic strains and common ones can take up to twenty-four hours. Our technology has the potential to reduce this to under a minute, requires either a pin prick of blood or a salvia sample and will deliver the result of the diagnoses on the spot."

The technology is based on printed electronics, making use of the unique properties of a number of nanoparticle based inks and is rapid, accurate, and the hand held device is easily portable for use in doctors surgeries, hospitals or airports. The system works for both bacterial and viral pathogens, and tests performed by the Naval Research Lab in Washington DC using Staphylococcus Enterotoxin B showed a two order of magnitude improvement over the current ‘Lab Golden Standard' test.

President of Nanotechnologies at Envision ALR, Tim Harper commented, "We originally made this acquisition as a platform technology to enable a wide range of low cost high speed point of care applications, from allergy testing to infectious disease control. Given the concern over the current potential Swine Flu pandemic we have decided to accelerate our development and will have devices in the field by the end of the year. These will be capable of rapidly distinguishing between pathogens, reducing false alarms and making better use of healthcare facilities, and the use of printed electronics means that large numbers of devices can be quickly produced to respond to any new emerging pathogen."

For Immediate release please contact

Gemma Gollrad
SabryCorp Ltd. for Science and Development
Phone: 022 414 6493     Fax: 022 415 0992
Mail: gemma.gollrad@sabrycorp.com

SabryCorp is at the head of the nano-revolution in the middle east. It is the first and the only nano consultancy based inside the Middle East and Africa, offering clients the opportunity to have an impressive entry into the lucrative middle eastern markets by providing local perspective, nano intelligence, and market insight.

 

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