Making the connection

A trip to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center gave a Franklin company president a glimpse at how a new technology could improve the lives of veterans and other patients.

At Walter Reed, Electro-Spec President Jeff Smith met a patient who had lost both of his legs and been fitted with prosthetics after an injury in the Middle East. To keep the patient’s prosthetic on, a screw is inserted into the femur. This type of injury is prone to infection throughout recovery, Smith said.

Electro-Spec has been working a new plating method during the past several years. The company has developed an alloy it can apply as a micro-inch thin layer on surfaces which can kill bacteria it comes in contact with, he said.

This technology, which Electro-Spec is calling steriplate, could be used on the surface of the pin that connects to the exposed screw and other prosthetic parts, helping to eliminate one way patients who use prosthetics can get infections, Smith said.

Electro-Spec is working with a U.S. senator to get this technology into military hospitals. The Department of the Navy is developing a testing protocol to study if this plating method would reduce infections associated with the orthopedic pin, he said.

Smith hopes working with the military will allow his company to demonstrate the usefulness of its new technology.

“It is the ultimate proving ground,” he said.

Infection rates at military hospitals have become a pressing concern and are one of their biggest challenges, said Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, who toured Electro-Spec’s Franklin plant in October.

“Any way that we can help make life better for our service members and for our veterans, we want to be part of that,” Donnelly said.

Donnelly, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, has been working with Electro-Spec to assist it with finding military uses for the new technology. He has been helping the company connect with the Department of Defense and other federal agencies, Smith said.

The senator’s help was essential in moving the project forward and getting the testing set up, Smith said.

“Without his representation there is no way we would have been to navigate the Department of Defense or have gotten anybody to pay attention to us,” Smith said.

Once the testing is complete — a process that could last up to a year — Electro-Spec will work directly with prosthetics manufacturers, which would allow steriplate to be used around the world, Smith said.

The premise behind the technology is one that has been around since the ancient Egyptians learned of the benefits of storing water in copper kettles, Smith said.

“It’s just metal’s natural ability to kill bacteria, which is not a new, novel technology,” Smith said.

What is different is the specific formula of the alloy and how it is plated. Electro-Spec is seeking a patent, he said.

The metal the company designed is not toxic, is bio compatible, has a hydrophobic surface and is capable of killing a variety of bacteria, Smith said.

Bacteria such as MRSA, E. coli, listeria, C. diff. and B subtilis deteriorate and die off anywhere from two to eight hours after coming in contact with the alloy, Smith said.

The alloy isn’t meant to be a replacement for thorough cleaning, but is intended to be another barrier against the spread of disease, he said.

“No matter how hard you scrub and clean, it is very tough to remove all the material,” he said.

The benefit is that the plating is corrosion- and wear-resistant and will outlive the device it is on, Smith said.

The pin is just the beginning of how this technology could be applied.

A micro-thin plating of the alloy could be put on many types of medical devices, such as orthopedic implants, surgical tools and testing equipment, Smith said.

“We truly feel like it could help greatly, greatly minimize infection rates associated with these types of equipment,” he said.