Atrial fibrillation (AFib or AF) is the most common type of heart arrhythmia afflicting millions of people throughout the world and leads to more than 166,000 deaths each year. Pacemakers and defibrillators are implanted into over a million people every year and vital for preventing the adverse complications of AFib. However, implantation of these devices within the body has a high rate of infection (~1.5%), of which up to 20 percent die as a result. There is an unmet medical need to develop new technologies that prevent or eliminate device and tissue infections from these lifesaving devices.

The technology herein describes a novel coating comprised of stable columnar coatings (e.g. titanium nitride, zirconium nitride, etc.) with bactericidal element additions (e.g. silver, copper, or mixtures) that is applied to the electrodes within pacemakers and defibrillators.  These elements are known to be antibacterial and do not negatively impact the performance of the high-surface area coating. This allows the device to  retain the improved charge exchange of the devices, which improves the performance and monitoring of heart function. Preliminary data from the inventors demonstrate the copper and/or silver-containing coatings effectively eliminate the growth of dangerous bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. The coatings also improve the electrical performance of the device through enhanced ion exchange between the coated electrodes and biological tissue inside the body.

Competitive Advantages

• Elicits improved bactericidal properties as compared to traditional electrode metals like platinum-10-iridium or coated electrodes.
• Enhances charge exchange between the electrodes and tissue.

Opportunity

• By the mid-2020s, the global markets for pacemakers and defibrillators are expected to exceed $5.5 billion and $16.5 billion, respectively.
• North America dominates the market holding over 40% of the total revenue.
• Other applications including cardiac mapping, diagnostics, wearable devices, HVAC, and appliances.

Rowan University is seeking a partner(s) for further development and potential commercialization of this technology. The inventor is available to collaborate with interested companies.