Expert describes development of reusable intermittent urinary catheter system

In this video, Ana Lidia Flores-Mireles, PhD, describes the background behind the Urology study “Initial Antimicrobial Testing of a Novel Reusable Intermittent Urinary Catheter System and Catheter Reprocessing Device.” Flores-Mireles is the Janet C. and Jeffrey A. Hawk Collegiate Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.

Transcription:

Please describe the background for this study.

When I was assistant professor, the company contacted me, because I have produced many different papers that they were really interested in. [They wanted] to create a device that would be able to allow people to reuse catheters and minimize UTI incidence. Talking with them, we were able to apply for 2 grants...basically to develop devices, or in this case, [what we call a] reprocessor. Basically, we started talking with them [about] how can we better maximize a device or optimize a device that everybody can use [that] could be low cost. One of the issues that we have with intermittent catheters is that basically every single one, in the label, it says this is for single use, because the FDA [has not] approved any of these catheters to be reused. There is a lack of standardization protocols to guide the patient or the user on how to clean the catheters to reduce bacterial contaminations that at the end may lead to urinary tract infection. So talking with them, we had a really clear idea...[We were looking at] how we can better optimize the system for cleaning. One of the strengths in my lab is that we actually work with urine. We work with pathogens. They are highly pathogenic. They are really good at causing UTIs. And we grow them in a condition that will make them like that. So we brought everything in urine. The majority of the companies, when they are testing antimicrobials, they always put them in a happy medium. But the more we study these pathogens, we know that they can behave differently depending on the environment. When the environment is really stressed...they will develop this pathogenic system [that] allows them to survive...The way that we paired with the company was, they will bring their material development side. They have a lot of collaborations with other people, and we would test those catheters. The idea was to have a catheter that can go over 100 cycles of cleaning, so the patient can actually use the catheter 100 times without any worry. The most important thing is that we want to have a catheter that is a no-touch catheter, so that means that when the catheter [goes] inside, it won't have any external contamination. So we worked with them, and we had a really clear goal. The goal was to clean the catheter in the most efficient way with the [safest] detergents and minimize contamination or residual bacteria on the catheter. We tested it many times, we [worked on it for] 2 years. It was a lot of optimization based on material development. [If] the pressure was too high, we needed to reduce the pressure without affecting functionality, so that we're actually killing the pathogen. That was the concept that we started working with, and I think that we have a really good partnership. We work with these 2 catheters, when they were able to get funding for developing the material and for us to test whether this is possible or not.

This transcription was edited for clarity.