A Medical Device Daily

Hill-Rom (Batesville, Indiana) and NanoHorizons (State College, Pennsylvania) reported an agreement to incorporate NanoHorizon’s antimicrobial technology into Hill-Rom’s patient support surfaces. The technology, to be branded nanoAg+ with SmartSilver, is designed to provide protection against institution-borne pathogens.

Hill-Rom, a subsidiary of Hillenbrand Industries (Batesville), makes medical technologies and related services. NanoHorizons develops antimicrobial solutions under the SmartSilver brand.

Peter Soderberg, president/CEO of Hillenbrand and Hill-Rom, said, “We anticipate that our relationship with NanoHorizons will yield a comprehensive portfolio of products with built-in, long-lasting antimicrobial protection... . [W]e aim to offer a nanoAg+ with SmartSilver option on all of our preventive and therapeutic surface products by the end of 2009.”

NanoHorizons says that silver, in lab tests, has been found to be 99.9% effective in the reduction of surface bacteria and viruses including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). NanoHorizons says it has pioneered the specific use of nanotechnology to create and manipulate materials that are smaller than 100 nanometers in size and that when applied to coatings, fabrics and laminates, allows the silver to cover an area more effectively and last much longer than any other antimicrobial coating.

“The SmartSilver brand is succeeding in a wide variety of fields with partners who share a common interest in delivering leading-edge antimicrobial product protection to today’s marketplace,” said Daniel Hayes, president/CEO of NanoHorizons. “Hill-Rom is an ideal partner for advanced medical equipment applications, given their longstanding commitment to innovation and their unwavering dedication to improved patient outcomes.”