(217br) A Biodegradable Scaffold That Inhibits Nosocomial Infections While Promoting Healing

Implantable medical devices or materials are widely used in medical treatments. In the United States, it is estimated that several million devices or materials are implanted every year. However, bacterial infections caused by the implants have become one of the leading causes of death in hospitals. Moreover, another major challenge impeding the function of implants is the foreign body reaction, which causes implants to become encapsulated in a dense collagenous capsule that blocks mass/signal transport. In this work, we present a biodegradable polymeric scaffold that can prevent nosocomial infections as well as mitigate the foreign body reaction. First, a non-antibiotic antimicrobial strategy was used in this work, giving the scaffold an excellent ability to resist the growth of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Second, the engineered porous structure of the scaffold greatly mitigated the formation of a capsule and facilitated mass transport. Third, the scaffold is fully degradable in vivo, making it a safe platform for many biomedical applications.