Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
metal-textile. interface.. Our. established. methodology. allows. for. the. deposition. of. metal.
nanoparticles.onto.textile.ibers.to.give.coatings.that.are.very.stable,.uniform.throughout.the.
iber,.and.represent.a.very.small.amount.of.highly.antimicrobial.material.(e.g.,.<50.nm.coating)..
With.the.enormous.surface.area.to.volume.ratio.offered.by.nanomaterials,.the.adage.of.“less.
is.more”.emphatically.applies,.and.we.have.observed.excellent.bacterial.growth.inhibition.
for.these.composite.substrates.(e.g.,.8-log.reduction.in.growth.for.multidrug-resistant.bacteria.
in.as.little.as.10.min)..Compared.to.Acticoat.and.similar.marketed.wound.care.products,.our.
nanocoated.substrates.can.eliminate.more.organisms.(e.g.,.>10
6
.more).using.75%-95%.less.
metal.antimicrobial.agent..The.fact.that.our.matrices.resist.metal.leaching.(due.to.speciic.
control. of. nanoparticle. binding. and. the. extremely. active. nanoparticle. surfaces). provides.
a. path. toward. responsible. nanotechnology. by. reducing. the. overuse. and. indiscriminant.
release.of.metals.(especially.metal.nanomaterials).into.the.environment.
28.4 Conclusions and Perspectives
While. there. has. been. limited. work. to. determine. the. effects. of. silver. nanomaterials. on.
human.health.(Chen.and.Schluesener.2008,.Panyala.et.al..2008,.Marambio-Jones.and.Hoek.
2010),. there. has. been. even. less. research. on. the. effects. of. other. metal. and. metal-oxide.
nanoparticles..Further,.we.know.little.about.the.additional.effects.of.diffusion.and.dissipa-
tion.of.nanoparticles.or.their.composite.materials..While.potentially.problematic,.overload-
ing,.diffusion,.and.dissipation.of.material.from.antimicrobials.is.common.for.applications.
in.which.bacterial.growth.must.be.inhibited.in.a.large.area.or.far.away.from.the.applica-
tion.site..This.is.the.case.for.deep.tissue.wounds.and/or.subcutaneous.infections..In.these.
cases,.antimicrobial.agents.must.be.diffused.away.from.the.wound.dressing.to.reach.their.
targets.(Chervinets.et.al..2011,.Percival.et.al..2011,.Zhou.et.al..2011)..In.these.cases,.prevent-
ing.the.environmental.release.of.antimicrobial.agents.(including.nanomaterials).may.not.
be.a.priority,.since.the.health.of.the.patient.is.at.stake..For.other.applications,.such.as.bacte-
rial.growth.inhibition.on.surface.wounds.(burns,.scrapes,.etc.),.on.suturing.materials,.or.
even.on.medically.relevant.textiles,.long-range.diffusion.of.antimicrobials.is.not.a.priority..
Therefore,. we. suggest. that. overloading. of. antimicrobials. (including. nanomaterials). and.
the.use.of.highly.diffusive.materials.should.be.avoided.
In. summary,. nanomaterial-based. antimicrobial. agents. are. an. exciting. new. avenue. of.
defense.against.the.ever-increasing.number.of.antibiotic-resistant.microbes.and.a.potential.
alternative.to.traditional.antibiotics..As.multiple.groups,.including.our.own,.have.demon-
strated,.metallic.and.metal-oxide.nanomaterials.can.have.incredible.eficacy.against.com-
mon.bacterial.pathogens..To.prevent.negative.environmental.impact,.however,.care.should.
be.taken.to.prevent.the.release.of.nanomaterials.or.their.constituents.into.the.environment.
References
Anyaogu,.K..C.,.Fedorov,.A..V.,.and.Neckers,.D..C..(2008).Synthesis,.characterization,.and.antifouling.
potential.of.functionalized.copper.nanoparticles..
Langmuir
,.24,.4340-4346.
Bhatt,.I..and.Tripathi,.B..N..(2011).Interaction.of.engineered.nanoparticles.with.various.components.
of.the.environment.and.possible.strategies.for.their.risk.assessment..
Chemosphere
,.82,.308-317.
