U.S. Patent Granted for Anti-Microbial Polymer Technology

Scanning electron micrograph image of MRSA bacteria (Janice Haney Carr, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Quick-Med Technologies Inc. in Gainesville, Florida says it has received a patent for its process that combines disinfectant and polymer to apply anti-microbial properties to surfaces, including human skin. Patent number 8,088,400, awarded on 3 January 2012 by the U.S. Patent and Tradmark Office, covers the company’s solution with opposite-charged polymers built into its line of anti-microbial materials for wound care and related medical applications.

The patent applies to an alcohol- and water-soluble disinfectant and method for disinfecting and providing prolonged anti-microbial properties to a variety of surfaces, including human skin. This composition is made up of a polymer that can impart anti-microbial properties to a surface without metals or metal-containing compounds. The composition, says the patent, can be applied to a surface and allowed to evaporate leaving a coating of anti-microbial polymer.

Quick-Med plans to use this process to develop polyurethane materials for its Nimbus line of wound care products, including dressings, catheters, and adhesives. The company says the technology destroys bacteria at the cellular level, which makes it effective against resistant bacteria such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The anti-microbial surface left by the Nimbus materials, says the company, is a permanent, non-leaching surface that bonds with the substrate, at a fraction of the cost of silver-based anti-microbials.

According to Quick-Med, this is the sixth patent awarded to technologies used in the Numbus product line. The product’s technology received de novo (lower-risk device) clearance from the FDA in 2009.

Read more: Prof. Develops Anti-Microbial Technology for Fabrics

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