Central line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) are commonly induced due to bacterial colonization of medical devices such as central venous catheters (CVCs) and is leading cause of concern due to increasing hospitalization duration, costs, and morbidity. This study evaluated the efficacy of boron carbon nitride (BCN) nano-coatings on CVC for antimicrobial activity. RF magnetron sputtering technique was utilized to deposit nano-coatings of BCN on CVCs. For comparison purposes, RF magnetron sputtered TiO2 nano-coatings were also investigated. Antimicrobial activity of nano-coatings was tested against gram-positive Bacillus cereus and gram-negative Escherichia coli bacterial cells. Nanoparticle coated and uncoated catheter surfaces were studied using FE-SEM and AFM to determine if the surface characteristics correlated with anti-adhesive effects of the bacteria. Biofilm formation on uncoated and BCN coated catheters was quantified using absorbance spectrophotometry.

Central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs) are the infections caused due to use of central venous catheters in patients. Implanted catheters are susceptible to bacterial colonization, biofilm formation and consequently resulting in infection. CLABSIs continue being important and preventable health-care related infection. Of all the healthcare associated infections, CLABSIs make up to 250,000 cases per year in the US with mortality of up to 35% [1]. Additionally, these infections are associated with high hospital stay durations leading to extremely high cost burden accounting to ~$46,000 per case [2]. However, central venous catheters are imperative in delivery of fluids and medications and to monitor the patient health. Current approach to mitigate this problem heavily focusses on deposition of coatings, inhibiting bacterial adhesion and reducing biofilm formation. In this study, boron carbon nitride (BCN) coatings will be incorporated on central venous catheters for the first time. Boron carbon nitride (BCN) films have achieved attention owing to their crystal structure and unique properties. BCN compounds are expected to combine excellent properties of diamond, boron carbide and boron nitride with their properties adjustable depending on their composition and structure[3]. B-C-N ternary compounds have been reported previously for biological applications [4-7]. Influence of BCN coating on bacterial colonization of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria will be investigated. BCN films will be deposited using RF sputtering technique. References [1] S. S. Magill et al., "Changes in prevalence of health care–associated infections in US hospitals," New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 379, no. 18, pp. 1732-1744, 2018. [2] Y. Haddadin and H. Regunath, "Central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSI)," in StatPearls [Internet]: StatPearls Publishing, 2019. [3] A. Prakash, S. D. Nehate, and K. B. Sundaram, "Boron carbon nitride based metal-insulator-metal UV detectors for harsh environment applications," Optics letters, vol. 41, no. 18, pp. 4249-4252, 2016. [4] W. Yang, P. Thordarson, J. J. Gooding, S. P. Ringer, and F. Braet, "Carbon nanotubes for biological and biomedical applications," Nanotechnology, vol. 18, no. 41, p. 412001, 2007. [5] A. Bianco, K. Kostarelos, C. D. Partidos, and M. Prato, "Biomedical applications of functionalised carbon nanotubes," Chemical Communications, no. 5, pp. 571-577, 2005. [6] S. H. Mir, V. K. Yadav, and J. K. Singh, "Boron–Carbon–Nitride Sheet as a Novel Surface for Biological Applications: Insights from Density Functional Theory," ACS Omega, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 3732-3738, 2019. [7] G. Ciofani, S. Danti, G. G. Genchi, B. Mazzolai, and V. Mattoli, "Boron nitride nanotubes: biocompatibility and potential spill‐over in nanomedicine," Small, vol. 9, no. 9‐10, pp. 1672-1685, 2013.