Anti-infection treatment of a transcutaneous device by a collagen-rifampicine composite

The polyurethane surface of a transcutaneous energy transmitter, which is implanted into a subcutaneous pouch for a total artificial heart, was coated with a Type I atelocollagen and rifampicine composite to prevent the infection that frequently occurs in the interfacial space between the tissue and the device. The specimen obtained after 7 weeks from a transcutaneous energy transmitter placed in a dorsal subcutaneous pouch of a dog revealed noninfected but well-attached dermal tissue without specific epithelial down-growth around the transcutaneous energy transmitter surface at the pouch-orifice area. The transcutaneous energy transmitter implanted in the pouch adhered well to the subcutaneous tissues. The collagen matrix seemed to have provided a favorable environment for the regenerating dermal tissue to obstruct the interfacial space. The coated collagen-antibiotic composite was degraded.