Current challenges in healthcare

CURRENT CHALLENGES IN HEALTHCARE

In many fields there is a mismatch between surface chemistry and the intended application. Poor surface properties can lead to discomfort or contamination which in turn can lead to bigger problems. A global challenge in healthcare is complications that arise due to complications in medical devices. Especially contamination of devices such as catheters are one of the leading causes of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs).  

It has been estimated that around 6% of HAI cases result in death. According to a GE whitepaper, every year in the US alone, HAIs affect about 1.7 million people at a cost of more than $35 billion. HAIs are responsible for prolonging hospital stays by approximately 16 days and causing nearly 100,000 deaths annually. The situation is similar in the European Union, where yearly over 4 million patients acquire a HAI. These infections are estimated to contribute to roughly 110,000 deaths, along with significant cost to health systems. The direct costs were estimated by the World Health Organization to total at least EUR 7 Billion, every year.  

LipoCoat© coatings are aimed at reducing HAI cases and improving medical device comfort and performance in a drug-less, no-active fashion using a bio-inspired mild solution. We work on proprietary solutions to tweak surface properties to make the outcomes more predictable. These solutions are bio-mimetic nano-coatings that offer control over wetting, lubricity, and fouling. In turn this improves comfort, safety, and performance of the substrate. 

LipoCoat has developed multiple proprietary coatings to exploit these properties and have assembled a toolbox of various base molecules and gathered the know-how to tailor coating composition and architecture to meet application needs. As such, LipoCoat is a membrane-mimetic coating with regenerative properties, anti-fouling, wetting and lubricous properties that are introduced by chemical control of the interface composition.

The coating is non-covalently attached to the substrate. The coating does not require a curing step But may require a surface pre-treatment step before the coating can be applied.  This can be achieved with oxygen plasma or chemical priming. Subsequently the coating is easily applied by means of ‘dip-coating’; the self-assembly property ensures an evenly spread, 5nm thin layer.