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Degradation and antibacterial properties of magnesium alloys in artificial urine for potential resorbable ureteral stent applications
Author(s) -
Lock Jaclyn Y.,
Wyatt Eric,
Upadhyayula Srigokul,
Whall Andrew,
Nuñez Vicente,
Vullev Valentine I.,
Liu Huinan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.34741
Subject(s) - magnesium , materials science , stent , medical device , biomedical engineering , urine , degradation (telecommunications) , surgery , medicine , metallurgy , telecommunications , computer science
This article presents an investigation on the effectiveness of magnesium and its alloys as a novel class of antibacterial and biodegradable materials for ureteral stent applications. Magnesium is a lightweight and biodegradable metallic material with beneficial properties for use in medical devices. Ureteral stent is one such example of a medical device that is widely used to treat ureteral canal blockages clinically. The bacterial colony formation coupled with the encrustation on the stent surface from extended use often leads to clinical complications and contributes to the failure of indwelling medical devices. We demonstrated that magnesium alloys decreased Escherichia coli viability and reduced the colony forming units over a 3‐day incubation period in an artificial urine (AU) solution when compared with currently used commercial polyurethane stent. Moreover, the magnesium degradation resulted in alkaline pH and increased magnesium ion concentration in the AU solution. The antibacterial and degradation properties support the potential use of magnesium‐based materials for next‐generation ureteral stents. Further studies are needed for clinical translation of biodegradable metallic ureteral stents. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 102A: 781–792, 2014.