A UVC device for intra-luminal disinfection of catheters: In vitro tests on soft polymer tubes contaminated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Bacterial colonization of central venous catheters (CVCs) causes severe complications in patients. As a result, developing methods to remove and prevent bacterial and fungal colonization of CVCs is imperative. Recently, we have demonstrated that disinfection by radiation of polymer tubes with ultraviolet C light (UVC) is possible. In this paper we present dose response results using a newly developed UVC disinfection device, which can be connected to a Luer catheter hub. The device was tested on soft polymer tubes contaminated with a pallet of microorganisms, including Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (~ 10(3) CFU/mL). The tubes were equipped with a modified catheter hub and interfaced to the disinfection device via a middle piece separating the disinfection device from the hub. The contamination lasted for 3 hours prior to treatment to simulate an aseptic breach. Our results show UVC killing in a dose and time dependent manner, with no viable counts after 2 min of radiation for bacteria. Killing of C. albicans was obtained at > 20 min in an UVC absorbing suspension. We believe our results to be transferable directly to the clinic, and we are currently working on a setup for clinical trial.
Original language | English |
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Journal | Photochemistry and Photobiology |
Volume | 87 |
Issue number | 5 |
Pages (from-to) | 1123-1128 |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISSN | 0031-8655 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
ID: 33910194