Technology Portfolio Detail - ITEK - The Commercialisation Company of the University of South Australia

This technology is targeted at combating the occurrence of infections associated with implants and biomedical devices, such as catheters, pacemaker leads, knee and hip implants, and others, by the development of coatings comprising antibacterial compounds that can be applied generically to a wide range of biomedical implants and devices used in human health care. Novel antibacterial compounds that have been recently identified and extracted from Australian plants of the genus Eremophila are used as thin coatings onto model materials used for biomedical device fabrication and have been shown to deter colonization by biofilm-forming human pathogenic bacteria. Initial data have shown that such coatings can prevent the settlement from bacterial suspensions of human pathogens such as Staphylococcus epidermidis.