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Review
. 2020 Aug 26;7(9):49.
doi: 10.3390/medicines7090049.

Minimising Blood Stream Infection: Developing New Materials for Intravascular Catheters

Charnete Casimero  1 , Todd Ruddock  1 , Catherine Hegarty  1 , Robert Barber  1 , Amy Devine  1 , James Davis  1
Affiliations
Review

Minimising Blood Stream Infection: Developing New Materials for Intravascular Catheters

Charnete Casimero et al. Medicines (Basel). .

Abstract

Catheter related blood stream infection is an ever present hazard for those patients requiring venous access and particularly for those requiring long term medication. The implementation of more rigorous care bundles and greater adherence to aseptic techniques have yielded substantial reductions in infection rates but the latter is still far from acceptable and continues to place a heavy burden on patients and healthcare providers. While advances in engineering design and the arrival of functional materials hold considerable promise for the development of a new generation of catheters, many challenges remain. The aim of this review is to identify the issues that presently impact catheter performance and provide a critical evaluation of the design considerations that are emerging in the pursuit of these new catheter systems.

Keywords: CRBSI; CVC; antifouling; antimicrobial; biofilm; intravascular catheter.

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Conflict of interest statement

Charnete Casimero is presently engaged on Cooperative Award in Science and Technology (CAST) PhD studentship cofounded by the Department for the Economy (DfE) Northern Ireland and Kimal PLC. Robert Barber is similarly engaged on Cooperative Award in Science and Technology (CAST) PhD studentship cofounded by the Department for the Economy (DfE) Northern Ireland and Abbott Diabetes Care PLC.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Tunnelled central venous catheter and associated components. (B) Totally implantable venous access port.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Needle free connectors based on (A) simple split septum, (B) mechanical spring compression and (C) blunt cannula. Computerised tomography scans of the internal components of an intensive care unit (ICU) Medical Clave™ connector before (D) and after connection to a giving set with a Luer connector (E).
Figure 3
Figure 3
ICU Medical Clave™ needle free connector (A). Optical image of the septum (B) and cut through section (C) highlighting gaps in the structure.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Needle free connector barrier caps based on simple foam insert (A), an encapsulating split septum (B) and the Clearguard® terminal cap (C).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Material approaches to counter bacterial colonisation of central venous catheters.
Figure 6
Figure 6
(A) Hyperbranched methacrylate-penicillamine based nitric oxide (NO) donors. (B) Dual lumen electrocatalytic release of nitric oxide using copper complexes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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