Inhibiting Nosocomial Infections and Foreign Body Reaction with Engineered Hydrogel Scaffolds

Implantable medical devices, such as sensors, drug releasing materials, etc, are playing an important role in medical treatments. However, two major challenges are remained impeding the successful application of medical implants. First, bacterial infections caused by the implants have become one of the leading causes of death in hospitals. Second, foreign body reaction causes implants to become encapsulated in a dense collagenous capsule that blocks mass/signal transport. Here, we present the design of polymeric hydrogel scaffolds that can resist nosocomial both infections and the foreign body reaction. First, a non-antibiotic antimicrobial strategy was used in this work, giving the scaffold an excellent ability to resist the growth of both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Second, the engineered porous structure of the scaffold greatly mitigated the formation of a capsule and facilitated mass transport. Third, the scaffold is fully degradable in vivo, making it a safe platform for many biomedical applications.