b'Case Study IMPROVING PATIENTS QUALITY OF LIFEHelping industry find academic partners to solveUroShield is a low-energy, unmet needs battery powered device with an accessory designed for application According to the World Health Organization, each year,to the extracorporeal segment of all types of urological (urethral an estimated 4% of people with long-term urinaryor suprapubic) catheters and is catheters will develop a CAUTI or blockage. Bacteria canintended to minimise bacterial enter the bladder during catheter insertion, throughadhesion and colonisation on the the catheter lumen and along the catheter urethralcatheter surfaces.interface. Infection and blockage risks rise the longer a catheter remains in place, because the bladder andThe Nanovibronix UroShield is applied externally catheter become colonised with bacteria, which cannotto the catheter and has been developed to prevent easily be removed. The presence of a urinary cathetercatheter blockages and biofilm contamination, resulting enables bacteria to form a biofilm, which creates ain a reduction in urinary infections, improved patient sticky, slimy, and sometimes crystalline, layer thatoutcomes and lower healthcare costs. The UroShield protects bacteria from both antimicrobials and theutilises low-frequency ultrasonic acoustic waves (Surface persons natural immune response. When a bladderAcoustic Wave) which run longitudinally along both the fills and empties normally, bacteria are flushed away;inner and outer surfaces of the catheter. These surface this protection is lost when a person has a urinaryacoustic waves prevent bacteria from docking and catheter on continuous drainage. adhering to the catheter and subsequently prevent the formation of biofilm. Initial results of the independent, Catheter-related problems cause distress forreal world patient study suggest changes in the microbial patients, reduce quality of life, and create unplannedpopulation diversity following use of the UroShield, with expenditure for the health service and families. Findingpotential beneficial effects on the urinary and catheter a solution that reduces adverse effects caused bymicrobiome. A further study focused on the bladder catheters will result in significant benefits to the healthmicrobiome and beneficial effects through the use of service, social and voluntary services and the familiesultrasound may lead to the generation of additional who care for these patients. Intellectual Property.NBIC Proof of Concept funding supported aAs a result of the project, the company were able to extend collaboration between University of Southamptontheir aims to include more patient reported outcomes researchers Dr Sandra Wilks and Professor Mandyand now have a data set with microbiological data and Fader and medical device company, NanoVibronix.information on device use and acceptability. Brian Murphy, The project shows the effect of the UroShield CE- Chief Executive Officer at NanoVibronix Inc. said, marked device on bacterial populations in patientsWe are continuing our collaboration with the teams with indwelling urinary catheters. An evaluation wasat the University of Southampton and applications conducted to assess any changes to the catheter- are being developed to allow for a full randomised associated microbiome in order to understand thecontrol trial. The microbiological results have been impact of the UroShield on the biofilm community.very interesting and we would be keen to explore Patients were also interviewed to understand theopportunities to understand the mechanisms of action impact of using the device on quality of life. in more detail and to enable us to continue working with the Dr Wilks team at Southampton.Dr SandraSandra Wilks is an Associate Professor in Applied Microbiology at the University of Wilks Southampton. Her interests are in understanding biofilm communities and she has worked across several areas, including drinking water, built environment, food safety, and medical device management.BrianBrian Murphy is Chief Executive Officer of NanoVibronix Inc., a medical device company Murphy focused on creating medical products utilizing its proprietary low-intensity, surface acoustic wave technology. The companys patented technology allows for creation of miniature transducers that transmit low-frequency, low-intensity ultrasound through flexible material surfaces. This unique platform is being utilised for a variety of medical applications.53'