Life sciences experts at Quick-Med Technologies have been granted a Notice of Allowance by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for its pending patent, "System and Method for Enhancing the Efficacy of Antimicrobial Contact Lenses and Other Surfaces."
The company primarily focuses on developing technologies for the healthcare and consumer markets, and the impending patent deals with the system of post-treating NIMBUS(R) contact lens and other NIMBUS surfaces to improve antimicrobial efficacy and upsurge biofilm resistance.
Quick-Med Technologies has found that by using a citrate solution to a surface to which a NIMBUS polymer has been non-leachably bound, the bactericidal performance is enhanced drastically.
They illustrate their findings by citing a surface treated to accomplish a 99-percent efficacy vs. the highly virulent Pseudomonas aeruginosa, raised to a level above 99.99 percent. This impressive performance doesn’t even falter after rinsing the lenses or other NIMBUS surfaces.
"We found that citrate solution, while harmless and non-irritating, serves as an amplifier to the effective action of the quaternary ammonium polymer in NIMBUS-treated surfaces," said Susan Leander, senior scientist at Quick-Med and lead inventor on the patent. "The resulting boost in sustained antimicrobial performance can be important in a wide range of product applications."
The new patent will be helpful in accomplishing antimicrobial protection in delicate materials such as soft contact lenses with gel-like physical properties and a high percentage of water content. The performance will also be useful in the interest of clarity and material integrity, consistent with the amount of antimicrobial agent that can be used.
"We are very pleased that U.S. Patent Office has issued this Notice of Allowance," said Dr. Jerry Olderman, Quick-Med's vice president of Research & Development. "This forthcoming patent represents an important extension of our NIMBUS technology in that it applies to a wide range of product applications in addition to contact lenses, including medical tubing such as catheters and tracheal tubes, endoscopic and other diagnostic devices, and various other surfaces where enhanced antimicrobial efficacy and biofilm protection is desired."
Edited by
Braden Becker
