The Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and Resistance Research Group at LSTM recently worked with Liverpool based specialist materials company Shimyatech to evaluate their proprietary metal coatings.
As part of the European Regional Development Funded programme ‘Formulated Materials for Infectious Disease Prevention’, samples of Shimyatech’s nanocoated surgical steel were evaluated against standard uncoated non-surgical steel for the prevention of biofilm formation. Metals with a range of coatings were tested for antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activity against the Gram-positive bacterium Staphylococcus aureus and the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli.
The results showed reduction in biofilm formation in all Shimyatech’s materials in comparison to standard steel.
This is important verification of Shimyatech’s novel coating technology and provides evidence to inform further research and developments into medical device applications.
Dr Adam Roberts said “We are delighted to be able to use our expertise and resources in the antimicrobial chemotherapy and resistance field to assess the innovative technologies being developed by ShimyaTech. We look forward to further collaborations with them as they bring forward their products to market.”
Omid Mirkhalaf of Shimyatech said “I would like to thank Daire Cantillon of LSTM for such proactive and helpful communication and conducting the biofilm efficacy tests”