Antimicrobial film technology used on train station touchscreens during the COVID-19 pandemic could help to reduce the spread of healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) if used on key surfaces in hospitals.

This alternative use for Gencoa’s bug-busting system is at the centre of new research by the Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON), a world-leading centre for infection innovation and R&D based at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), which works in partnership with Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT). 

The initial stage of assessing the product’s viability for hospitals was undertaken as part of a fully-funded study as part of iiCON’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) SME support programme.

Real-world data

The research particularly focused on pathogens for which new antibiotic treatments are required.   

And the results proved the solution could, in principle, be applied to a hospital setting and the data was a key part of Gencoa receiving additional funding for another, larger study, which will take place over the next 12 months. 

Innovate UK awarded a £584,066 funding grant as part of its BioMedical Catalyst Award to a partnership between Gencoa, LSTM, and LUHFT to optimise the coating for use in healthcare environments and look for real-world data on efficacy and safety in a clinical environment.   

This project has shown that creating links between healthcare, academia and SMEs is a great way to rapidly progress new technologies and it’s a route that we hope to adopt with other businesses to simultaneously help them into the healthcare market while getting much-needed innovations into the NHS as quickly as possible

As part of the research, antimicrobial coatings will be installed within clinical environments, including touchscreens and door handles, in the new state-of-the-art Royal Liverpool University Hospital, which opened in October. 

To create the coatings, Midlands-based Diamond Coatings will transfer the new technology to production and develop a high-volume roll-to-roll capability for coating adhesive pads in order to protect screens and other surfaces. 

Assessing performance

The coatings will be in place for up to 12 months and will be assessed for how they perform under standard NHS infection prevention and control guidance for cleaning.

Systematic environmental testing will also be performed on coated and uncoated surfaces to look for differences in contamination.

Parallel to this, testing will be conducted in a mock ward environment at LSTM to investigate whether changes to clinical cleaning pathways could be safely considered.  

Dermot Monaghan, managing director of Gencoa, said: “The project utilises a ‘solid state’ coating applied to a surface by vacuum deposition in order to reduce contagion by rapidly killing microbes present.

“The coating is highly robust and provides a continuous self-sanitising effect for touchscreens and other parts in highly-trafficked areas.   

“The academic and grant support combined with the material technology capabilities of industrial partners has been vital to advancing Gencoa’s innovation into the healthcare sector.” 

Forging links

Dr Adam Roberts of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine led the research at iiCON and said: “The ERDF-funded study that we conducted within iiCON meant that Gencoa could access our advanced research facilities and the skills of a world-leading team that specialises in infectious diseases in order to prove the antibacterial performance of its new film coating.

“This was significant, as it helped achieve further funding from Innovate UK and a partnership with LUFHT, which will move the research onto the next stage and take the results from our laboratories into the real world. 

“This project has shown that creating links between healthcare, academia and SMEs is a great way to rapidly progress new technologies and it’s a route that we hope to adopt with other businesses to simultaneously help them into the healthcare market while getting much-needed innovations into the NHS as quickly as possible.”  

Combining our manufacturing expertise with the medical and microbiological expertise of the rest of the team has proven to be a highly-productive and effective method of creating an innovative new solution for the healthcare sector

HCAIs are a risk to patients, visitors, and staff, and cover a range of different infections including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile).

And an estimated 3.5% of those that acquire an HCAI die from the infection, according to research published by the British Medical Journal.

Combining expertise

Even if manual cleaning of surfaces is performed regularly, between-cleaning contamination can still occur.

In addition, the use of environmentally-damaging chemicals and how these can be safely reduced is an important consideration for the NHS. 

Jason Eite, managing director of Diamond Coatings, said: “We look forward to applying our vacuum coating technology and roll coating capability to help minimise the risks posed by HCAIs.

“Combining our manufacturing expertise with the medical and microbiological expertise of the rest of the team has proven to be a highly-productive and effective method of creating an innovative new solution for the healthcare sector.”