Zwitterionic Coatings for Urinary Catheters: Current Progress, Design Principles and Translational Challenges
- 1Queen’s University Belfast , , Lisburn Road , ,
Abstract
Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is one of the most common healthcare-associated infections and remains a major cause of morbidity, catheter blockage, and repeated device replacement during long-term catheterization. This narrative review examines the interfacial processes that contribute to urinary catheter failure, including protein adsorption, microbial adhesion, biofilm formation, encrustation, and swarming-associated blockage, and evaluates how zwitterionic surface coatings may address these challenges. Drawing primarily on urinary catheter-specific studies, together with adjacent zwitterionic biomaterials literature where relevant to catheter design, this review synthesizes current coating strategies with emphasis on protein repellence, lubrication, biocompatibility, multifunctionalization, interface-specific design requirements, architectural trade-offs between hydrogel-like and brush-like coatings, and approaches to improve coating durability. The review also considers translation, including interim human evidence for zwitterion-treated urinary catheters, while recognizing that these data remain conference-reported and product-specific. Overall, zwitterionic coatings should be viewed not as a single antifouling solution, but as a versatile biomaterials platform for engineering multifunctional, durable, and clinically translatable urinary catheters. However, their long-term stability, resistance to complex biofilm and encrustation processes, and clinical efficacy require further validation. To define these remaining validation needs, the review compares PC-, SB-, and CB-based systems, stratifies evidence by model and duration, reports quantitative coating data where available, and identifies validation requirements across the product lifecycle.
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BibTeX
@article{yao2026zwitterionic,
title = {{Zwitterionic Coatings for Urinary Catheters: Current Progress, Design Principles and Translational Challenges}},
author = {Chenghao Yao and Zhengda Wang and Sixu Yan and Shuai Zhang},
journal = {ACS Omega},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/acsomega.6c07621},
url = {https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/41/62340/5448392/Zwitterionic-Coatings-for-Urinary-Catheters},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Zwitterionic Coatings for Urinary Catheters: Current Progress, Design Principles and Translational Challenges
AU - Chenghao Yao
AU - Zhengda Wang
AU - Sixu Yan
AU - Shuai Zhang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - ACS Omega
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.6c07621
UR - https://pubs.acs.org/acsodf/article/11/41/62340/5448392/Zwitterionic-Coatings-for-Urinary-Catheters
AB - Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI) is one of the most common healthcare-associated infections and remains a major cause of morbidity, catheter blockage, and repeated device replacement during long-term catheterization. This narrative review examines the interfacial processes that contribute to urinary catheter failure, including protein adsorption, microbial adhesion, biofilm formation, encrustation, and swarming-associated blockage, and evaluates how zwitterionic surface coatings may address these challenges. Drawing primarily on urinary catheter-specific studies, together with adjacent zwitterionic biomaterials literature where relevant to catheter design, this review synthesizes current coating strategies with emphasis on protein repellence, lubrication, biocompatibility, multifunctionalization, interface-specific design requirements, architectural trade-offs between hydrogel-like and brush-like coatings, and approaches to improve coating durability. The review also considers translation, including interim human evidence for zwitterion-treated urinary catheters, while recognizing that these data remain conference-reported and product-specific. Overall, zwitterionic coatings should be viewed not as a single antifouling solution, but as a versatile biomaterials platform for engineering multifunctional, durable, and clinically translatable urinary catheters. However, their long-term stability, resistance to complex biofilm and encrustation processes, and clinical efficacy require further validation. To define these remaining validation needs, the review compares PC-, SB-, and CB-based systems, stratifies evidence by model and duration, reports quantitative coating data where available, and identifies validation requirements across the product lifecycle.
SN - 2470-1343
ER -