Nanotechnology may provide antibacterial breakthrough

This is the goal of researchers from four UK universities that have received £223,013 of government funding plus support from Irish microfluidic chip developer Cellix for their ‘Smart Composites for Minimising Bacterial Biofilm Formation’ project.

Project leader James Davis, a professor from the Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Research Institute at Ulster University, said the team will spend two years developing a prototype access line - for IVs or catheters - that contains embedded ion-oxide nanoparticles.

He added that these nanoparticles would be capable of converting oxygen in the patient’s blood, initially into peroxide. The peroxide would then be converted into a more reactive form known as a hydroxyl radical, which can kill hospital bugs.

Davis said the idea ‘piggybacks’ off chemistry processes that have been used for cleaning up organic wastes from sewage.

‘It’s never been tried for in vivo systems,’ he added. ‘There are technical issues in terms of trying to miniaturise it down into an in vivo system.’