Designing, Prototyping and Testing of a Multi-lumen Urinary Catheter with Sustained Unidirectional Biocide Flow

Overview

Kidney Specialists of Kern County Catheter associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) are the most common healthcare-associated infections, resulting in 13,000 deaths annually. The underlying cause of CAUTI is the biofilm formed by bacteria within the catheter. The structure of Foley catheter has certain features which promote the biofilm formation and impede the biofilm removal. The novel catheter that I designed had features that reduce biofilm formation and promote biofilm removal. These features included multi-lumen catheter with instillation port for biocides, one-way valve to prevent back flow of biocide into the bladder, a mixing chamber and a sustained release pump for timed release of the biocides. To test the device, a 3D printed bladder was used. The alkaline fluid with pH of 11.5 was used as a biocide and instilled into multilumen catheter. A mildly acidic fluid with pH of 6.5 was instilled into bladder lumen. Alkaline pH of 11 was recorded in the discharge fluid that exited the catheter, but acidic pH was maintained in the bladder. Therefore, multilumen catheter worked as hypothesized. In future, the multi-lumen catheter will be tested for biofilm removal in a laboratory this model will be extended to other catheters like triple-lumen catheters and peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) lines.

Awards (1)

• 2nd Place Biomedical Sciences

Competition history

• JSHS 2020 Category not listed

Resources

• National JSHS abstract book ↗

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