title: Developing an engineered antimicrobial/prophylactic system using electrically activated bactericidal metals.
abstract: The increased use of Residual Hardware Devices (RHDs) in medicine combined with antimicrobial resistant-bacteria make it critical to reduce the number of RHD associated osteomyelitic infections. This paper proposes a surface treatment based on ionic emission to create an antibiotic environment that can significantly reduce RHD associated infections. The Kirby-Bauer agar gel diffusion technique was adopted to examine the antimicrobial efficacy of eight metals and their ionic forms against seven microbes commonly associated with osteomyelitis. Silver ions (Ag(+)) showed the most significant bactericidal efficacy. A second set of experiments, designed to identify the best configuration and operational parameters for Ag(+) based RHDs addressed current and ionic concentrations by identifying and optimizing parameters including amperage, cathode and anode length, separation between anode and cathode, and surface charge density. The system demonstrated an unparalleled efficacy. The concept was then implemented during in vitro testing of an antimicrobial hip implant, RHD.
authors.affiliation: ArgentumCidalElectrics, Incorporated, P.O. Box 254, Lewistown, PA 17044, USA. fuller@argentumce.com
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Wysk
authors.forename: Charumani
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Charumani
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kennett
authors.forename: Wayne J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Sebastiennelli
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abrahams
authors.forename: Rohan A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Shirwaiker
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Voigt
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Royer
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004560:Electricity; D004566:Electrodes; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D008670:Metals / Q000494:pharmacology; D012834:Silver / Q000494:pharmacology; D018030:Silver Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D005782:Gels; D008670:Metals; D018030:Silver Compounds; D012834:Silver