Background

The testing of anti-infective implants adds a significantly more challenging task for preclinical in vivo models compared to standard implant studies. In addition, the ideal in vivo testing model for an anti-infective device must also consider the local antibiotic pharmacokinetics in the tissues surrounding the implant, the relevance of the total amount of antimicrobial versus the volume of distribution within the host animal and how this compares with what is achievable in a human situation. Overall, to aid the development of novel anti-infective solutions, the candidate technologies must be tested in standardized animal models, and the successful and most potent candidates must be tested in subsequent models that represent the clinical situation as closely as possible.

The following Challenges have been identified (selected)

• use of a standardized murine subcutaneous biomaterial associated infection model to serve as a standard model for testing across all delivery platforms;
• development of a sheep model to study the biology of two-stage hardware exchange due to implant related osteomyelitis;
• use of a rabbit model suitable for testing the prevention and treatment of infection of an intramedullary nail;
• use of a mouse model suitable for testing the prevention and treatment of infection of an internal fracture fixation device;
• murine model of infection of intramedullary nail (AMC).