Development of a multifunctional double-network P(AAm-co-SBMA)/SA-Ca2+ hydrogel coating on ureteral stent and anti-encrustation performance

Ureteral stents are critical medical devices for the treatment of urinary obstruction, facilitating urine drainage and postoperative recovery. Clinically, stents are prone to bacterial adhesion and colonization, which leads to urinary tract infections in up to 30%–50% of patients. Meanwhile, minerals in urine tend to readily deposit on their surfaces and form encrustations. To address these issues, we developed a multifunctional double-network hydrogel coating, (P(AAm-co-SBMA)/SA-Ca 2+ ), through physical and chemical crosslinking. The crosslinking density of the hydrogel was optimized by adjusting the SBMA concentration. Compared with uncoated polyurethane ureteral stents, the coated stents exhibited a low friction coefficient of 0.28, a reduction of over 83%, which significantly improved surface lubricity. More importantly, the coated ureteral stents showed synergistic antibacterial adhesion (up to 90%) and anti-encrustation deposition properties. In vitro simulated urine experiments demonstrated that encrustation deposition was reduced by 84.46% after short-term immersion (14 days) and by 75.48% after long-term immersion (21 days). This novel coating provides an effective surface modification solution for solving the problems of ureteral stent infection and encrustation formation, holding significant clinical translation value.