The biggest benefit of this work is to keep the infection from ever starting.

There are plastic devices - bladder catheters, implants for kidney dialysis, Hickman tubes, pacemakers - every implant you can think of is a magnet for bacteria. The idea of having a permanent chemical bond to the metal is a new approach. This can be used for every metal and plastic implant, with every antibiotic.

There are plastic devices – bladder catheters, implants for kidney dialysis, Hickman tubes, pacemakers – every implant you can think of is a magnet for bacteria. The idea of having a permanent chemical bond to the metal is a new approach. This can be used for every metal and plastic implant, with every antibiotic.

There are plastic devices – bladder catheters, implants for kidney dialysis, Hickman tubes, pacemakers – every implant you can think of is a magnet for bacteria. The idea of having a permanent chemical bond to the metal is a new approach. This can be used for every metal and plastic implant, with every antibiotic.

Our technique puts a bed of antibiotic nails on the surface of the implant. The first time a bacterium lands on those nails, it dies.

We're making some progress on sorting those (financial) issues out, too.