Description:
SELF-DISINFECTING REVERSE ADHESIVE BANDAGES
Princeton Docket # 21-3726
Researchers in the Department of Physics at Princeton University have designed a self-disinfecting reverse adhesive bandages for healthcare use.
One of the primary mechanisms of viral and bacterial transmission, particularly SARS-CoV-2, is by transfer of the infectious agent by touch contact with a contaminated surface, and then touching another surface or person.
Wearing of medical gloves, while that may prevent secondary transfer of the agent to the wearer, does not prevent surface to surface transfer. Active destruction of the infectious agent upon contact with a self-disinfecting surface would however both protect the person touching the surface and prevent transfer of the infectious agent.
Medical adhesive strips, commonly called Band-Aid® (a registered trademark of Johnson & Johnson) commonly act to disinfect inwards: that is, they disinfect infectious agents penetrating the Band-Aid® from the outside into an open wound but fail to prevent surface to surface transfer.
We have designed a “reverse adhesive bandage”. The “reverse adhesive bandage” would serve to kill infectious agents on the surface of the bandage, rendering the touch of the person actively sterile. These strips would be expected to maintain their active disinfectant action for periods up to 12 hours, with a color indicator showing that the reservoir of the disinfectant has evaporated. The “reverse bandage” could then be easily peeled off and replaced. These “reverse bandage” could be adhered to medical gloves for medical workers for example, or put directly on fingers of consumers, since the disinfectant is never in contact with the skin.
Applications:
Consumer-level use for protection against pathogen bearing surfaces
Medical applications to reduce possible pathogen spread within a facility
Advantages:
Mitigates the possibility of pathogen spread from non-sterile surfaces
Prevent surface to surface transfer
Active disinfectant action for periods up to 12 hours, with color indicator when depleted
Versatile utility – self disinfecting
Intellectual Property & Development Status
Patent protection is pending.
Princeton is currently seeking commercial partners for the further development and commercialization of this opportunity.
The Inventors
Shivaji Sondhi is a professor of physics at Princeton University. His group studies quantum condensed matter physics with a focus on strongly correlated systems. He has been the recipient of a number of prestigious awards including the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and the Europhysics Prize.
Robert Austin is a professor of physics at Princeton University. His group focuses on the use of microarrays and nanotechnology to further our physical understanding of biological processes. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. He has also been awarded a Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize, the Max Delbruck Biological Physics Price of the APS, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Contact:
Laurie J. Tzodikov
Princeton University Office of Technology Licensing
(609) 258-7256 • tzodikov@princeton.edu