BACTERIA looking to make a home on medical implants such as replacement hips are in for a shock.
Researchers at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia have chemically bonded the antibiotic vancomycin to the metal titanium for the first time. They hope it could pave the way for infection-proof implants.
鈥淥ur technique puts a bed of antibiotic thorns on the surface of the implant,鈥� says biochemist Eric Wickstrom, who led the research (Chemistry and Biology, vol 12, p 1041). The antibiotic is bonded to titanium via silicon-containing silane molecules.
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If clinical tests are successful the bacteriocidal implants could be in use within five years, and the medical implications could be huge. Tens of millions of people a year have medical implants, and 6 per cent of these develop life-threatening infections as a result.
