An Innovative Zwitterion-Treated Ventricular Catheter to Prevent Shunt Failure in Hydrocephalus Treatment
Abstract
Small devices called cerebrospinal shunts are commonly implanted by neurosurgeons to treat hydrocephalus, a life-threatening disorder of excess fluid in the brain. Unfortunately, these shunts often fail, predominantly because brain cells grow over small holes in one of its tubes (the ventricular catheter) and prevent it from draining the excess fluid. This obstruction problem is also known as fouling. A permanent antifouling coating for these devices could greatly reduce this issue, and significantly improve the lives of hydrocephalus patients. While many researchers have tried to develop high-performance antifouling coatings, many have a short lifespan, are fragile, or have been difficult to manufacture to the necessary high quality. In our recent research, we have developed a new antifouling ventricular catheter coating technology that shows remarkable performance, which we also believe solves common issues with other technologies. The coating is based on zwitterionic polymers, which many researchers have found to perform the best and last the longest. This polymer strongly binds to water, so that unwanted cells and proteins cannot bind. We have developed many parts of a manufacturing process that we expect will work well at larger scales, and will develop this process further in the current phase of research. The next phase of our work will also require us to finalize several more aspects of the design and manufacturing specifications of this technology, so we can begin to make prototype products. We will work with a specialized manufacturing company to produce the custom silicone catheters to our specifications in a regulated process so they could potentially be implanted in animals or humans. Then, we will follow our own strict procedures to apply our coating to the catheters, and test these samples to ensure they are performing as expected. We have partnered with several top researchers in different fields to help us answer specific questions about the way this technology works, so we can make sure it is safe, effective, and optimized. If our project is successful, we plan to submit our data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and shortly thereafter begin a clinical trial. We believe this technology will help military personnel, children, and indeed everybody with hydrocephalus. In the future, similar technologies may also improve many types of medical devices that are implanted in the body.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 28, 2022
- Source ID
- W81XWH2210405
Entities
People
- Andrew Sinclair
Organizations
- United States Army