Surgical Site Infectons are a common complication surgeons confront in orthopedic surgery, with an estimated 780,000 post-operative infections occurring in the United States each year.

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as MRSA (also known as "Superbugs") have been a growing concern with a rising incidence of both hospital and community acquired MRSA infections. Post-operative spine infections have been reported in large studies to range in incidence from 2.5% to 13%, costing the health care industry an estimated $150 million dollars a year.

SSIs have been a focal point for quality improvement as part of the "pay for performance" initiative for both hospitals and physicians. There is a growing mandate in the medical and healthcare communities to develop protocols to minimize or eliminate SSIs within hospitals, such as the Ascension Heath Surgical Care Improvement Project. Moreover, as of October 2008, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) are no longer paying for hospital acquired infections; therefore, these healthcare facilities are going to have to absorb these staggering costs.

Dedicated to mitigating the incidence of SSIs, DiFUSION's CleanFUZE^TM technology utilizes iontophoretic silver ions carried in a Zeolite molecule to eradicate bacterium and prevent biofilm adhesion. This will not only improve infection ratios, increase safety of surgery and decrease risk; benefits that will have a profound impact on surgeons, patients, hospitals and insurance carriers.