Investigators evaluate catheter reprocessing device

In this video, Ana Lidia Flores-Mireles, PhD, shares notable findings from 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:

What were some of the notable findings?

The first thing that we did is, if you have an external contamination, how long is the bacteria going to be on those catheters?...We were able to see the different time points the bacteria was there. That means that really even quick contamination in water or with the pathogen, even if we wash under the faucet, the pathogen was still there, highlighting the power of them to form this biofilm. But in this case, it was the catheter, right? That was the main thing that we found. Not even 1 minute, just putting the catheter in and out, wash it, put it in and out in a solution with bacteria, wash it with water, and then just let it rest for several hours, or 1 day, the pathogen was still there. So now imagine somebody...gets a catheter, touches it with their hands...They insert the catheter. What is the risk of these bacteria that's attached to the catheter actually to pass to the bladder, and then that they will have an incidence of UTI? So I think that that was the realization of how important this is. This first experiment, even when I saw it again, probably we're going to have something, but it's so quick that I don't think it's going to be that much. It was a lot. So suggesting, again, that we're underestimating what we're doing or what the patients are doing normally, right? And obviously, sometimes they don't have hand sanitizer. Sometimes people, they don't have clean water or drinkable water. So that means that if it's not drinkable, there may be something that makes you sick, right? That same thing in the water can attach to the catheter and survive. So that was one of the [key] moments...[that] the pathogen can stay that long, even though the contamination was so quick. We didn't even allow the pathogen to be there 24 hours to attach. It was super fast...So the question is, now, can we develop something to clean that? And that was the goal. So the notable findings is that pathogens can stay there for a long time, even if the contamination was really quick...It happens really fast. Working and actually communicating with the company and what our results were, we're having a lot of conversations how to improve that, how to, from a big device, can we go to a really small device still having all the conditions, pressure, detergents and cleaning of the catheter. I think that the notable finding is yes, you can have a really quick contamination, and we need something that cleans that. This apparatus, this system, does that.

This transcription was edited for clarity.