Abstract:
Hospital acquired infections are a major financial and
societal burden with high mortality, morbidity and cost.
Such infections are caused by a number of pathogenic
and opportunistic bacteria, many of which are resistant
to front line antibiotics. To combat their emergence and
spread, new approaches have been developed such as
adding biocides to wound dressings and surgical
implants, but have met with limited success. We
proposed an innovative technology capable of
improving the clinical outcomes associated with
bacterial infection of skin, deep wounds and surgical
implants. This approach will exploit the ability of silver
nanoparticles (NPs)1 to produce antibacterial radicals
and reactive compounds. To begin with, antimicrobial
activity of NPs and cytotoxicity of materials were
tested.